Arnold the Populist?

I certainly agree with Politico in saying that California is a mess, but where, exactly, do they come off saying that Arnold "swept into office on a wave of populist fervor"? Arnold was in fact a perfectly credible candidate and by any reasonable standard, a centrist. Stuck between sclerotic Democrats and batshit loony Republicans, a centrist wouldn't normally stand a chance, but Arnold took his opportunity when the recall election allowed him to sidestep the party apparatus. If you define a "populist" as "anyone who esacapes the party apparatus," then I guess we have to find him guilty. But I'd say his dynamic looks less like Sarah Palin (say) than it does Michael Bloomberg, who propelled himself into the New York mayoralty by a very similar finesse.

Arnold differs from Bloomberg in one important respect: Arnold pretty much blew his opportunity. I suspect he'd have been able to accomplish a lot if he had been willing to bang some heads in the early months when the fervor (okay, fervor) was still high. Instead his performance back then was mostly desultory and slack. I don't have a good guess as to exactly why this was so: my instincts tell me it was some mix of narcissism and laziness. Still, I suppose you'd have to count me as one of the 34 percent who would give him credit for trying to do some heavy lifting now, but it's probably too late for anything but another half-measure cockup.

Second Thought: Hey, Buce, weren't you the guy making a snide remark just the other day about Jesse Ventura? Fair comment, but I think there's a difference. For one, Jesse never did take his job as governor seriously; as time went on, he became less involved, not more.