did anyone have a clue that some day the terminator,conan the barbarian etc would be the governor of calif.? i dont think it was that big of a shock cuz sonny bono,fred gandy and jesse ventura made us already aware that anything is possible in politics. but i think he is capable of running calif

Far better than Gary Coleman or the porn star.

There's no doubt that this was one of the biggest stories of the year. I don't think anyone doubted Schwarzenegger would win, given his mass appeal and the lack of voter identification with most of the other candidates. Certainly the biggest political story of 2003.

The California Recall Election was big, there's no denying that. Before this, there was only one time that a recall was implemented to throw out an elected official at the state level and that was in 1921 for North Dakota's Governor, who was implecated in a massive financial scandal. People can debate the wisdom of the recall process but there's no denying the fact that it was largely a populist revolt. Former Governor Gray Davis was horribly ineffective and unpopular. He was what I call a special interest politician; he didn't really have any core beliefs so what he did was cater to the various liberal special interest groups in his party like the unions. In terms of leadership, well, he was like Clinton in that he always looked in which direction the wind was blowing before he made a decision. The energy crisis of 2001 was largely caused because of his little-too-late leadership qualities. He was though a hard boiled politician in every way. The year before the recall, Davis faced a re-election campaign in which he managed to pick who his Republican opponent would be. Obviously, it suited him that the weakest candidate would come out. Despite running against a scandal ridden neophyte, he only won by 5 percentage points, not very encouraging indeed. Meanwhile after the election, Davis announced that California would be facing a deficit of up to 37 billion dollars. Normally I don't consider myself a partisan, but that was caused by massive increases in spending on his watch of up to 30 percent in the time span of 3 years! Really Davis didn't do a lot with the money; there was no accountability to speak of. A recall petition was started in March 2003; they needed about a million signitures to start a recall election going. Something really unusual happened though; people were lining up to sign the petition. Within 3 months the organizers of the recall had more than a million signitures. Almost every California governor has had recall petitions issued against them, but none have never been remotely successful. That is what set this situation apart from all others. What was originally seen as a partisaned right wing revolt was mainstream. To make a long story short, actor Arnold Schwarzenegger got into the race last August and won the election by a lanslide against a liberal Democrat and a conservative Republican. Lets be realistic: Arnold lacks the depth of that other Republican who became Governor of California, Ronald Reagan. Arnold is intelligent, but I don't think he's given the time to think about the issues or develop policy proposals. However, he is intelligent and very perceptive. I think that Arnold's election also kind of reflects a melding of entertainment and politics in a way that has rarely been seen. It lends a certain shallowness to politics that someone who vibes certain catch phrases can get elected based on celebrity like Arnold did. However, when you look at the choices California faced, there is no doubt that he is way better than Gray Davis was. The jury's still out on Arnold's performance as Governor, but so far he's managed to get California bond rating de-valued to junk status. He has really done much to alter California's state government, one of the largest in the nation. Wall Street will be encouraged by significant reform; that's what they are looking for and that's what the voters want. In short, Arnold has to put the reins on government spending a bit more and be less conservative in this respect. The recall was the big domestic political story of the year; in my view it was good because it made politicians realize that they are indeed accountable for their actions. The recall process may not be that stable, but it sent a message to the political establishment that politics as usual isn't going to cut it.

first it was jesse ventura in minnesota. next it was ahnold in california. next one to win a governorship will either be carl weathers or the predator.

Californians need to realize that the blackouts were not caused by Gray Davis; they were caused by Enron, thus they should no longer be a problem. Also, the bad economy is due to the Bush Administration and their tax cuts for the rich. Lastly, Schwarzenegger is completely unqualified for the position of Governor of California, having no previous experience in politics.