Posted 9:39 AM by Blah blah

Arrrgh. Arnold! (Politics)

Seriously, as much as I like Arnold as a person and an actor, I cringe at having him governor. A politician needs to be very sharp on public policy. He needs to be willing to negotiate the nitty-gritty laws and deal with give-and-take to convince his skeptical colleagues to support him. He needs to really understand the issues.

Watch this morning's interview with Arnold by Matt Lauer on NBC's Today Show.

I could have bullshitted better on TV.

Arnold repeats the same vague statements he said on the Tonight Show. He has not done his homework and doesn't know what the hell he's talking about.

When Matt tried to pin him down on specifics, Arnold said: "I'm sorry, I can't hear you." He did that twice. Is this gonna be like Ronald Reagan with his frequent "I can't recall" on the Iran-Contra affair?

Sorry Arnold, I can't in good conscience vote for you. We need a brilliant guy like Clinton to run California, not someone who needs on-the-job training.

The problem with a political baby like Arnold running the state is that he will have to depend HEAVILY on his staff and political advisers to know what to do. So look at what his STAFF believes and wants to do. That's more important than what Arnold says he THINKS he wants to do.

I'm not against actors becoming politicians. Warren Beatty, for example. He's very public-minded and politically sharp. I'd vote for Beatty.

Yes, Arnold is a great campaigner and promoter. But great at actually creating and passing laws? The right laws? I seriously doubt it.

The governator (The Guardian): "Back in 1988, he told Playboy he would never allow his wife or mother to wear trousers when they were seen with him on the grounds that dresses are more feminine. That was back in 1988, of course, but he does not seem to have mellowed. This is from an interview in last month's Esquire magazine on the subject of blondes and brains:

'As much as when you see a blonde with great tits and a great ass, you say to yourself, "Hey, she must be stupid or must have nothing else to offer," which maybe is the case many times. But then again there is the one that is as smart as her breasts look, great as her face looks, beautiful as her whole body looks gorgeous, you know, so people are shocked.' Not as shocked, perhaps, as California's women voters will be when they hear that particular quote, as surely they will."

Terminator 4: Voting Day (The Guardian): "Should Arnie run? Should any actor run? When Oscar-winning actress Glenda Jackson became a Labour MP in the 90s, it was assumed she was going to bring some prototypical New Labour glitz to Westminster. Yet she became one of the most disappointing non-events in the party - not a careerist, not a policy wonk, not a parliamentary performer, not a luvvie. It was as if she was resting. The late Andrew Faulds, actor-turned-MP, also found that a theatrical larger-than-life personality doesn't necessarily work on a political stage. Clint Eastwood got bored of being mayor of Carmel pretty quickly....

Above all else, Schwarzenegger will have to have a pretty clear idea what he wants to do in office, should that ever become a reality. Or he might become like Grace Kelly, who at the very height of her Hollywood fame became Princess Grace of Monaco - a sort of political position - and walled herself up in a Ruritanian mausoleum: what many suspected was a living death of boredom.

Arnie might find the political frustrations and compromises of a scrutinised life in the governor's mansion very similar."