With the state’s mind-boggling deficit, not to mention
substantial cuts to the UC budget, many Californians wonder if
perhaps Gov. Gray Davis will soon face “Judgment Day”
at the hands everyone’s favorite hero, Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Is the killer robot properly equipped to “erase” our
fiscal woes? Probably not, but there’s a good chance
he’ll get elected anyway.
Hot off the domestic release of “T3: Rise of the
Machines,” Schwarzenegger joined U.S. troops in Baghdad last
weekend to screen his new blockbuster ““ a curiously political
move for someone who claims he won’t talk about a campaign
until after his press junket is complete.
“First of all, congratulations for saying “˜Hasta la
vista, baby,’ to Saddam Hussein,” said Schwarzenegger
at the screening. “I came here “¦ because I wanted to
pump you all up.”
And pump them up he did ““ to vote for him, that is.
“(It is) really wild driving around (Baghdad),” he
said. “You see there is no money. Disastrous financially.
Then there is a leadership vacuum, pretty much like in California
right now.”
Schwarzenegger clearly has his sights set on politics. With the
growing movement to have Davis recalled from office, now is an
opportune moment for the “Running Man” to, well,
run.
Consider Davis’ most pressing problems: As Time
magazine’s Terry McCarthy writes, despite the fact that
“[Davis] has not been accused of any crime, there are no
state funds missing and no interns telling stories to the
tabloids,” Davis is still in quite the political pickle.
California suffers a $38 billion deficit, the largest in history.
In addition, our economy is still reeling from the abrupt end of
the dot-com machine, which powered California throughout most of
the 1990s.
For UC students, this fiscal crisis will spell exorbitant fee
hikes, reinforced by the absence of a state budget. Not only does
this mean the UC system stands poised to lose $250 million in state
aid, it also means that many of our struggling community colleges
may be forced to shut down, rendering this crisis perhaps the
biggest threat to California public education in the state’s
history.
As a result, leaders of a campaign to oust Davis announced this
past week that they’ve procured the full complement of
signatures necessary for a recall election ““ all 897,158 of
them.
Californians seem to feel as if something has to change, and
Davis seems as good a place to start as any. “It’s no
longer the San Andreas Fault, it’s Gray Davis’
fault,” said Saturday Night Live alumnus Dennis Miller at a
Republican fund-raiser.
Reenter Schwarzenegger. Although he hasn’t officially
declared himself in the race, it’s clear he wishes to run.
The main concern is whether he’s fit to remedy our fiscal
crisis. As Los Angeles Times columnist Steve Lopez writes,
“Republicans have spent months gathering signatures to recall
Davis, and their best hope to replace him is an actor who appears
butt naked in “˜Terminator 3,’ has no experience, no
platform and no known agenda.”
Lopez, coincidentally, is also running for governor.
Although Lopez does have a valid point, Schwarzenegger’s
no dummy. The superstar holds a bachelor’s degree from the
University of Wisconsin-Superior in business and international
economics.
In addition, while the Terminator may be an amateur politician,
let us not forget that behind every great man stands a great woman.
Schwarzenegger’s wife is MSNBC’s Maria Shriver, who
hails from the prominent and wealthy Kennedy family.
Hence, should Schwarzenegger require political counsel and aid
while in office, he certainly has the personal and monetary
resources to find it. Further, the fact that Shriver is a Democrat
will ensure at least the appearance of political-economic balance
in her husband’s policies.
So will Schwarzenegger get elected? I think so. Combine
star-power with the resources to pull it off and why wouldn’t
Californians come rushing to vote for him?
One way or another, it’s a “Total Recall” for
Davis.
Dang is a fourth-year political science student. Contact him
at ndang@media.ucla.edu.