What the Calif. recall election was really all about

Why would so many Republicans fall in behind Arnold Schwarzenegger, a movie actor with no experience who is somewhere to the left of Joe Lieberman on the political spectrum, when they had a perfectly good conservative candidate like Tom McClintock standing in the wings? That is the question that has vexed many right-wing radio talkers and bloggers these past few weeks.

Even when Arnold was being exposed as a serial groper with enough accusations of sexual misconduct to make even Bill Clinton blush - Republicans stood by him, unwavering in their support.

The reason is quite simple really and it was clearly evidenced by the results of Tuesday's recall election. Arnold has the kind of star-power that every Republican operative in the country would love to tap into. Unless California is falling into the ocean next year, you can bet that Arnold will be the No. 1 invitee to appear at Republican fundraisers and to speak on behalf of Republican candidates at their campaign rallies.
And the topper will be when Arnold gives the nominating speech for George Bush at next year's Republican National Convention.

That was the GOP's goal in this race. They don't really care about what happens to California. Anything that goes wrong from this point forward will just be blamed on the Democrats who still control the state legislature. The real point was to annoint the newest Republican superstar: "Conan the Campaigner" coming soon to a political rally near you!

Conservative writers block?

Woo Hoo! This is a nice change - Bestseller list dominated by liberals

"Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right" by Al Franken.
"The Lies of George W. Bush: Mastering the Politics of Deception" by David Corn
"Big Lies: The Right-Wing Propaganda Machine and How It Distorts the Truth" by Joe Conason
"The Great Unraveling," by Paul Krugman
"Bushwhacked" by Molly Ivins and Lou Dubose.
and soon to unseat the latest Bill O'Reilly screed for the No. 1 spot is Michael Moore's new book, "Dude, Where's My Country?"

I guess it is one of the few advantages of being out of power - plenty of time to sit back and write books critical of those who are in charge.

By the way, I will get to see Molly Ivins in person tomorrow at the Barnes & Noble on DeZavala where I plan to buy her book and get it autographed.

The Clinton Test

Josh Marshall has a good rule of thumb that I would like to see more bloggers taking up. He calls it the Clinton Test.


"When I come across something fishy from the Bush administration, I try to use what I call the Clinton Test to keep myself honest and steer me right. As I’ve noted before in these pages, the Clinton Test is quite simply, how would I react to situation X if it was Clinton --- someone I supported --- rather than Bush --- someone I oppose. It’s a good rule of thumb because seeing a given action through the prism of someone whose motives you are inclined to view favorably is a good check on unwarranted suspicions."

Of course, some conservatives already have their own version of The Clinton Test as Atrios points out.

"We should compare Partisan Liberal Journalist Josh Marshall's "Clinton Test" with Partisan Conservative Journalist Chris Caldwell's "Clinton Test:"


CALDWELL: Well, yes, one of my colleagues likes to say, "The Golden Rule is that all rumors about the Clintons are true". But I think ...
KURTZ: That's quite a journalistic standard.

Liberals electing Republicans, and vice versa

With California on the verge of installing a Republican governor once again, I’m reminded of the peculiar habit of states that traditionally vote a certain way electing governors from the opposite party.

Assuming that The Groper pulls off his electoral coup tomorrow, California will join such other “liberal” states with Republican governors as: Massachusetts, Vermont, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Maryland, Minnesota, New York and even Hawaii.

On other hand, there are many “conservative” states that typically vote Republican that have elected Democratic governors of late. They include:
Arizona, Indiana, Kansas, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Virginia and Wyoming.

Cubs win!

I got to see a Cubs game at Wrigley Field with my parents some time in the early '70s when I was about 8. My Dad was stationed at Grissom AFB in Indiana and we went mainly to see the hapless Astros play. All I remember is that the Cubs won and Billy Williams hit a home run.
So I'm glad to see the Cubs finally make it back to the Post-season for the first time since 1908. I'll be rooting for them to knock off the Florida Marlins and make it to the World Series where I'm guessing they would end up facing the Yankees.

I haven't paid much attention to the Marlins this year, but it looks like Pudge Rodriguez nearly single-handedly helped them to knock off the Giants. I still can't believe the Rangers let Pudge go. It figures that they end up in the last place while Pudge takes his new team to the Playoffs. It reminds me of the idiot owners of the Cinncinnati Reds in the late-70s and early-80s when they decided to break up the Big Red Machine and started trading off everyone except Johnny Bench. They even let Sparky Anderson go and Sparky responded by taking the Detroit Tigers to the World Series while the Reds wallowed in last place.

I'll be rooting for the Red Sox to make a miracle comeback against the A's tomorrow, but I'm not holding my breath.