August 08, 2003

The man most responsible for making Mayor Richard Riordan possible -- Hugh Hewitt comes out strong for Schwarzenegger:

REASONS TO SUPPORT ARNOLD: Rush is reported to be slamming the AS candidacy. I haven't heard him do so, but many conservatives are most definitely doing so, so here are the reasons why center-right Republicans and conservative Republicans should vote for AS:

1. AS can win. The others in the race who would make acceptable governors --Bill Simon, Tom McClintock, and Peter Ueberroth-- cannot marshall enough votes to top the almost certain 25 to 30% that Cruz Bustamante will roll up. Objectivity matters a great deal here, and even if AS hadn't gotten into the race, the presence of more than one "movement" candidate dooms them all. Period. End of story. Arguing this point doesn't change the facts on the ground ..

5. Finally, the state is in desperate shape. AS is right, businesses and talent are fleeing. Unless the bleeding stops, this economy continues to drag the national economy down, and with them both, the re-elect numbers of the President.

The purists have to get over it and get behind a winning effort.

And I loved this:

There ought to be a ban on east coast opinion purveyors rattling on about California politics. It is a different world. Here's my test. Can you name the Speaker of the Assembly? Do you know the campaign manager for Cruz and the other statewide office holder he represents? Whom did Bruce Herschensohn beat in the 1992 Senate primary? Whom did Jerry Brown beat in the 1978 gov race? California politics are as complicated as most nations', and the canard that you have to be a moderate Republican to win out here without explanation of the Duke's successes (no, not Wayne) or of Feinstein's pummeling of Tom Campbell is a giveaway of an amateur come to play in the sun.

A prime example of the Right coast idiocy? I can't count how many talking heads blathered on about Schwarzenegger announcing his candidacy for governor on the Tonight Show -- and how degrading this was. But in California Schwarzenegger didn't make his announcement on the Tonight Show -- he made his announcement hours earlier in a press conference carried live by all of the local news channels. The additional Tonight Show excitement bumb for the Schwarzenegger campaign wasn't broadcast till hours later -- and it wasn't California "news" of an official announcement at that point, it was a Schwarzenegger campaign rally watched by millions of Californias who already knew that Schwarzenegger was running for governor. Well, just one example how the right coasters haven't got a clue, and I could fill a blog with them.

Posted by Greg Ransom