[Beth Curran]

What about The Boss?  It's never occurred to me before, but I bet he'd
make a kick-ass politician.  His people there in Freehold simply adore
him.

And now a couple of side notes:  Is anyone else still giggling in
delighted horror over the SMH's being able to use the phrase
"suck-hole?"  And can somebody please steal and burn that brown suit
that Future MP Garrett appeared to be wearing in that most recent photo?
Ewwww! - Beth

-----Original Message-----
From: powderworks-bounces at cs-lists.cs.colorado.edu
[mailto:powderworks-bounces at cs-lists.cs.colorado.edu] On Behalf Of
tfrommer at mindspring.com
Sent: Thursday, June 10, 2004 1:24 PM
To: powderworks at cs-lists.cs.colorado.edu
Subject: [Powderworks] re: PG joins labor & OT: Governor Arnold (long)

Diana, Miron, Phil --

Many thanks for the replies, info and links. I find this all fascinating
on several different levels. I cannot think of an American rocker who
would not be laughed into the ocean if s/he pursued politics as a means
to further his/her convictions. Those that do speak out have much, much
smaller national profiles, i.e. none of them performed at the Salt Lake
City Olympics. I'm still personally muddled on how I feel about PG's
latest decision(s) though that's really of no consequence.

Re: Governor Terminator.

Yes Miron I am in California. Ahhh-nold's become something of populist
hero to the surprise of many journalists, politicians and us normal
folks. He basically won't take 'no' for an answer on things he truly
believes in. Whether all of these issues are good for the state is
another question entirely, but he has forced/forged some bi-partisan
cooperation in the state houses of government that hasn't been seen in a
long, long time. He's either on the longest political 'honeymoon' in
recent memory or he genuinely has a gift for this. He asked the voters
to approve an enormous bond measure to help the state with its fiscal
crisis and it passed. A Democratic legislator summed up the proposal as
a terrible solution, except for all of the other ones offered. Soon
after, the state's bond rating was improved by the major financial
institutions. However, that still leaves us ranked either 49 or 50 out
of the 50 states in terms of creditworthiness. 

He's far to the left of many of his Republican brethren on social issues
(he's pro a woman's right to choose and pro same-sex partnerships) but
likely won't do a thing about either. In fact, when the barrage of gay
marriage licenses were being issued here in San Francisco where I live,
he instructed the state attorney general to halt the practice. He seems
to genuinely care about improving the lot of the state's children and,
more to Republican party roots, wants to help the state's small
businesses that are suffering, particularly because of rising worker's
compensation insurance costs (general insurance companies -- they're the
worst generals of all you know). 

To put it mildly, California is a strange place. I've been here 8+
years, originally from NYC. In no way does Arnie's governorship indicate
that the Republicans have made any inroads here politically. As a whole,
the state has a solid democratic majority -- every other major
state-wide office is held by a Democrat, our two Senators in Washington
and 33 of the 53 representatives in the US House are all Democrats --
and the state will most certainly vote for Kerry in November. Term
limits will force Arnie out of office after two terms if he doesn't
leave earlier or be voted out earlier. By then, the US Constitution may
be amended so non-US born citizens can become president. Should that day
come, I'm moving to Oz.

--Tim
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