LA Times - We should have kept Davis

For the first time in a long time, I agree with a column in the Los Angeles Times!  Not because of their conclusion (which I disagree with) but because of the consequences.

One thing should now be evident as Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger packs up his office: It was a mistake to recall Gray Davis.

Davis didn't deserve it. He had just been reelected the year before. He would have been out of office in three years anyway.

Schwarzenegger wasn't an improvement except for, briefly, providing entertainment. He didn't make the state's money mess any better. In fact, it has gotten worse.

I don’t think keeping Davis would have changed anything.  In fact, I’m willing to concede that the state budget mess might be slightly improved because of the higher car registration tax that Davis signed into law.  The majority of the Schwarzenegger term was probably not much different than a Davis term would have been.

But the consequences I see are that a governor who labeled himself a Republican and crowed about his achievements as “bipartisan” (even if he was the only GOP representative to agree with them) may have created a popular impression of what a Republican governor is like.  In other words, “Ahnold” may have sunk the opportunities for a real Republican to be elected.

I don’t say that casually – I’ve been thinking about it for a while.  Schwarzenegger had no political credibility, no track record as an elected politician, no collection of published position papers on how to lead a state (country would be more correct, since California is the world’s 8th largest economy).  He won because he had the money and the face time in the media to get people’s attention.  He spoke tough, and people wanted a governor who would be tough on the entrenched powers in Sacramento – politicians, unions, bureaucrats, etc.

So what are the consequences?  Well, Meg Whitman was another political unknown, with no track record, etc.  In fact, wow, Carly Fiorina fits the bill, too.  Both Republican candidates for state-wide office.  Both lost.

Did they lose because of the Schwarzenegger precedent?  I don’t know.  However, I wouldn’t be surprised.

So, back to the original LA Times column…Yes, it may have been a bad idea to recall Gray Davis.  But only time will tell if it was the short-term loss of Davis or a long-term loss of GOP opportunities that was the real error of the electorate.