The Week

National Review, Oct 27, 2003

-- And they said Arnold wasn't a true Kennedy!

-- Schwarzenegger's big win in California is being taken in some quarters as a sign that there is a new Republican party aborning-one that is "inclusive," "tolerant," cool, and not uptight about such matters as the killing of unborn children in the womb. The media do this every time a liberal Republican gets elected: Remember when Christie Whitman was hailed as the future of the GOP? The Republican party remains broadly conservative. Schwarzenegger may very well have lost a Republican primary if one had been held. While the idea persists that California voters hate and fear conservatives, the opinion polls say that the most popular politician in California is a pro-life, pro- gun fiscal conservative named Tom McClintock. If Schwarzenegger had not run, indeed, McClintock might have won the race. (And if McClintock had not run, Schwarzenegger might have run a less conservative campaign.) The new governor will have plenty to do next year. He will need to fight for tax and spending reforms with a left-wing legislature, and take the fight to the public if (when) the legislature is obstreperous. We wish him good luck, and good judgment-which would preclude him from trying to be the national leader of the left wing of the GOP.

--Note the opportunism of the Los Angeles Times's waiting until the home stretch to publish allegations that Schwarzenegger groped numerous women who crossed his professional path. Note the hypocrisy of Arnold's feminist opponents who held him to a standard they did not apply to Bill Clinton ("The difference," said Patricia Foulkrod, an activist at an anti-Schwarzenegger rally, "is that Clinton was so brilliant"). Factor in the possibility that many of the accusations were simply made up. Still Schwarzenegger himself has said, "Wherever there is smoke, there is fire. . . . I was on rowdy movie sets and I have done things that were not right which I thought then [were] playful." What he thought was "playful" were gross acts and boobish propositions, yukked- over by posses of fawning toadies. If that is celebrity culture, so much the worse for it. Men should not behave like that.

-- While we masticate the results of the California recall, let us not forget to put in a bad word for the system itself. Anything that tends to government by plebiscite should be discouraged. People have the chance to make their opinions felt on Election Day. Until the next election, they should abide by the consequences of what they have done. You make your bed; lie in it. When you arise, aching and uncomfortable, perhaps you will do a better job next time. The only good thing to say in behalf of recall is that, although it's a feature of many state constitutions, the California recall is only the second time in 80-odd years that a governor has been subject to a recall vote (North Dakota recalled a governor in the '20s). Let us hope that this high-publicity event will not encourage imitations.

-- Bob Graham, the Democratic senator from Florida, acknowledged that his presidential campaign had gone nowhere and dropped out. We hope that this decision is part of a more general re-acquaintance between the senator, who recently mused that it might be a good idea to impeach the president for lying about Iraq, and reality.

-- Care to visit a Democratic debate? Howard Dean said, "We need to remember that the enemy here [in this campaign] is George Bush, not each other." Now, we understand the loose rhetoric of political debate- but if a Republican had referred to a Democrat as "the enemy" . . . ? And here's Dick Gephardt: "Greed, selfishness, can kill this great democracy and ruin capitalism. We need a president different than George Bush, who was brought to office by the millionaires." By the millionaires, huh? There must be a lot of millionaires in America. And too bad Al Gore didn't have anyone with money behind him! Dennis Kucinich, a candidate almost from outer space, complained about the "maldistribution of the wealth" in this country-a perfect expression of the collectivist mindset. Finally, John Edwards spoke of "expanding the investor class." Hurray! Has he been reading National Review lately? Unfortunately, his policy proposals don't match his talk, but it's good to hear the words "investor class" from any Democrat.

-- It seems that the acceptance of Al Sharpton is complete-complete within the Democratic party, and within our country's media establishment. Not another Democratic presidential candidate, not a mainstream journalist mentions Steven Pagones or Freddy's Fashion Mart (to begin with). Pagones, recall, is the man whose life Sharpton all but ruined: He charged that Pagones had raped a girl named Tawana Brawley, who had not been raped by anyone. "The Rev" has steadfastly refused to apologize to Pagones; it is apparently a matter of perverse principle with him. At Freddy's Fashion Mart, Sharpton merely had a hand in inciting the murder of seven people. He turned his ire on "white interlopers" in Harlem, and one of his more action-oriented followers turned his gun and matches on the store. But now, Sharpton is basically just another Democrat, as unremarkable as, say, Senator Dodd. The other presidential candidates welcome him as just another guy on the platform. He swans through the various capitals, glad-handing, attending A-list parties, being welcomed in television studios, etc. We're all for repentance and redemption-but redemption without repentance is a little odd.