This isn't just fodder for Jay Leno's monologue, you know. California's good for about 20 percent of the country's gross domestic product, about 14 percent of the population, 15 percent of the agricultural output. They're also category killers in sitcoms and one-hour dramas, of course. If they were their own nation, California would rank somewhere above France in terms of economic power. If they sneeze, we all catch a cold. Remember the port shutdowns in Long Beach last fall? The Medfly thing in the 70's? The price of lettuce two years ago? The Writers' Guild strike?

We all have to care, and hope, California voters know what they're doing. As I watched Arnold on television yesterday, struggling with the complexities of the voting process (It took him five minutes to do the deed, with a poll watcher patiently explaining everything at least once. One assumes he already knew who he would vote for. Meanwhile, Maria was done in a flash and waited patiently for her husband), I tried to remember the stories, early in the recall effort, about what a savvy businessman he is.

Savvy businessmen know the sharp end of the metal stylus is most effective for punching a hole in a piece of paper.

Of course, California was vigorous enough to sputter through the administrations of Ronald Reagan, Jerry "Moonbeam" Brown, Earl Warren, etc., without totally tanking. There will be another election next year, and Arnold will have opportunity to show us how he can succeed where Gray Davis (Moonbeam's chief of staff at one time, where he earned respect as an able administrator) failed. It won't be played like that in next year's campaign, of course. Why, we barely had time to move to Sacramento! We haven't even unpacked yet! We haven't measured for mini-blinds, we still have newspapers taped to the windows! We need more time to put our grand plan in motion...

And, if Schwarzenegger starts some goofy shit, people can clip and sign the recall petition Doonesbury printed in the Sunday strip a few weeks ago, and give Gary Coleman another shot at it. 9:13:26 AM    comment []trackback []