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Contributors
Doug Gamble- Contributor
Doug
Gamble is a former writer for President Ronald Reagan and
resides
in Carmel. [go to Gamble index]
 The
Anthony Robbins of Politics
Yesterday's elections will add to momentum of our hyperconfident governor
[Doug
Gamble] 3/3/04
Like
his character in The Terminator, has
Arnold Schwarzenegger been sent
here from the year 2029, but this time to show us what a perfect
politician looks like? His political
opponents may question whether or not he’s human.
The California governor,
who looks like he could walk on water with a little practice,
chalked up another victory with Tuesday’s
win for Proposition 57, the $15-billion bond measure he has championed.
Also garnering voter approval was Proposition 58, the companion
measure he backed that imposes new limits on state spending.
Support for the initiatives
lagged badly just a few weeks ago, but that was before Schwarzenegger
turned on the charm in TV
commercials and town hall meetings. Not only did voters rally
around the propositions, but the latest poll puts the governor’s
job approval rating at 65% with just 19% disapproving.
He is proving to be the Anthony Robbins of politics, bringing
the same cocksure approach to governing that the self-help guru
employs in his motivation tactics to convince average folks that
they can have it all. If the ordinary optimist turns lemons into
lemonade, Schwarzenegger would create a lemonade empire.
The governor appears
convinced he can succeed with sheer force of will where others
have failed, as evidenced by his recent
pitch for more money for California while in Washington, D.C.
for the National Governors Association conference. Despite the
fact there were few funds for the state in the budget President
George W. Bush sent to Congress, Schwarzenegger said, “I
expect to get a lot simply because I’m very persuasive
and I’m like a tick that hangs on and will not let go until
I get what I want. And so we’re just waiting for the moment
when they get us the money.”
What would sound
naïve or foolish coming from the mouth
of a mere mortal politician cannot be dismissed when coming from
Schwarzenegger. With confidence exuding from every pore and a
constant beaming smile exposing an array of teeth that seem to
have muscles of their own, the man makes Norman Vincent Peale
look like a pessimist.
There is no other
state in the country where the numerically-dominant party in
the legislature is as overwhelmed by a governor of the
opposite party as in California. Schwarzenegger has turned into
a one-man majority. If legislators do not soon enact changes
to workers’ compensation insurance the governor will take
the issue directly to voters in November, probably with the same
success as Propositions 57 and 58.
National Republicans
are delighted that Schwarzenegger is kicking keester in California.
Scott Reed, the Washington-based consultant
who managed Bob Dole’s 1996 presidential campaign, says
the governor’s success will allow him to branch out around
the country helping GOP candidates. Certainly he would be a fundraising
goldmine.
And consultant Charlie
Black, advising the Bush reelection effort, believes the better
Schwarzenegger does in Sacramento
the more it enhances the president’s chances of carrying
the Golden State. The Schwarzenegger factor prevents the Democrats
from taking the state for granted, despite the lead John Kerry
currently holds in a theoretical match-up with Bush.
Schwarzenegger wants an amendment to the Constitution to allow
a foreign-born U.S. citizen in the country 20 years to run for
president. From the moment he entered the political arena last
year, I was convinced his ultimate goal was not to be governor
of California but president of the United States.
It’s difficult to alter the Constitution, but considering
Schwarzenegger’s life-long winning streak, his irrepressible
self assurance and a will that seems capable of moving mountains,
I wouldn’t bet against him. Even if it takes until 2029.
Copyright
2004 Doug Gamble
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