Arnold Won because of the perception he is a WINNER.

[opihimoimoi]

Everyone luvs a winner. Never mind Arnold is a winner in the movies. His winning Mr Universe is another matter(hardly qualys for the Gov job).

Busamante looked like a ordinary Joe, nothing exciting.

Arnie has the glitz, the reputation of the "Hero" from his many movies where he plays the "Good Guy". The perception is there, the girls starry eyed. The Men wannabes. So in my mind, its all emotion, no common sense.

Arnie also had the backing of the Pub Masters, still does; Who now will do all they can to make sure Arnie succeeds for the Bushy thingy nx year.

Looks like a winner, talks like one, walks like one, but will he be one?? Only time will tell.

Bush?? Perception is of a loser, well to us Dems he is. Can Arnie carry for Bush??? Only time.....

Come, we go look.

[Cha]

1. Won't they be surprised when arnie can Tank like everyone

else?

[opihimoimoi]

12. And smokes cigars too???

[Hippo_Tron]

2. My theory...

Bustamante had a lot more votes from people who knew anything about politics, considering Cali is solidly Democratic. I think there were just enough people who thought it would be "cool" if Ah-Nuld was their governor.

[Clete]

3. This thinking that California is solidly Democratic is untrue.

If you look at the election map, all the liberals are clustered on the coast. Everywhere else is Repuke. This will bode badly for the electoral votes if they stay Repuke. Democrats, who congregate mostly in large urban centers seem unaware or not interested in the problems faced by the rural folks. It's time we did.

[opihimoimoi]

13. Yessir, you got it right. Its the Emotion thing.

[foreigncorrespondent]

23. How many votes did...

...Bustamante get in the end? And if we took the votes that went to Gray Davis, and Bustamante and added them together, would of the combined total been enough to beat our shit for brains?

And if the answer to that last question is yes, then Bustamante let the California Democratic Party down, big time.

[pansypoo53219]

4. the gropenator won because

every MW had him on constantly and HE IS A MOVIE STAR. the sheeple confuse his character with the pig. if he took on the predator, he can take on the deficit. he is a 'hero' to many TV sheeple. the repug props lost. NO PRIMARY. he is a jesse ventura candadate cubed. so we CANNOT GO FOR SOLID COMPETANCY. we need a candidate that can fire up the base.
DEAN 04'
but i will work for anybody who is the nominee.

[opihimoimoi]

14. Me too, wants a Dem Candidate to kick ass.

Or, at least makes a showing of it.

[VOX]

5. Arnold won't be calling his own plays...

So whatever his moves are, they will come from the official GOP playbook.

Musculature aside, he's as much of a puppet as *.

[opihimoimoi]

9. I concur

Puppets R Us mist be having a sale

Come, time for sashimi/sake

[cliss]

6. I guarantee everyone here

this should be a VERY interesting 3 years or so. Arnie may be in the stratosphere right now, but just wait until the honeymoon is over.

1) The Golden State of California is virtually bankrupt. What's the budget deficit right now? $20 billion? $40 billion? I'm not even sure if they know for sure what it is. Either way, Arnie has taken on a mess of gigantic proportions. No matter what he does, he is bound to infuriate just about every person who lives in that state. The handouts have to be cut back. School funding is out of control (this will be like sticking his hand inside a bee nest). There's no way he can balance the budget without cutting.

2) He's already promised he will not raise taxes, so that leaves that alternative out. Could he maybe his up his good buddy in Washington? Bush is coming to visit Arnie next week in Calif., maybe Arnie could hold out a begging cup.

3) It's going to be difficult to raise revenues because we're in a tough climate for business. Many businesses are folding, and Silicon Valley is only a shadow of its former self.

4) The problem with illegal immigrants has fallen to Arnie. He's got to make a decision on it, and it will enrage hispanics there.

We all knew Arnie was an overachiever!!! Now he's finally found something that will not be done, once the cameras stop rolling.

I JUST LOVE IT. Arnie, I'll be keeping a loving eye on you the next 3 years!!!

[opihimoimoi]

10. Beware of the Spin Zone, it already looks like the one we got

immersed in is a long termer. Might last 20 years.

Come, we vote, I hate to wait 20 years.

[KharmaTrain]

25. I Keep Saying He's Our Poster Child

Arnie's created a lot more problems for the GOOPs than he's solved. Besides all the problems well stated above, he also has an very uncomfortable party base that had to swallow hard, not on just his groping, but his pro-choice, pro-gay and pro-environment stances. Now if he stays true to his convictions, he pisses them off (since these goons now feel they own Arnie) and go the other way and he's labeled a hypocrite and his other problems are magnified as well.

Yes, the Gropinator enjoyed what I call "Ventura Syndrome"...a lot of first-time (probably last time) bandwagoners who already are sold on the guy's fame and latch on to his "outsiders" and "us vs. them" message. I've always believed that the first person who grabs that us vs. them and keeps it will always do extremely well.

Davis/Bustamante was a total bust...actually a downright embarassment. The vote shows that the largest and more loyal Dem bases stayed home...Labor, Blacks, Latinos...or they couldn't overcome the wave of new voters...either way, just like in Minnesota, it created a backlash against "politics as usual" and now most of these sheeple will go back to their gameboys.

I think Arnold's value is a big wedge in the straw-man "morality" issue that the GOOPs still try to ram down everyone's throat. Here's a walking hypocrisy of creatin values that is their tar baby, and our job is to make it stick.

A couple days ago, I got flamed for offering to make a $1,000 donation to a defense fund for any woman who will come forward with legitmate sexual assault charges against the doofus (ala Paula Jones)...then the Clinton circus begins in the GOOP big tent. I don't know about you, but it's money well spent.

[Must_B_Free]

7. was a stilted contest

the first was 'do you want a recall?' which is akin to 'do you want political progress?'.

The second was a popularity contest.

The media whored for Arnold non stop to avoid CIA leak gate.

[opihimoimoi]

15. Recalls are for doing bad things, like a crimal thing. Not for doing bad

jobs,

[teryang]

8. Swanzenegger, the religion, la gloire...

Ahnold is a projection, a myth...a religious icon, a substitute for rational thought. He is the ultimate propaganda man, the proverbial superman or fascist ideal "man of action." What Ahnold actually accomplishes is irrelevant because the regressed political mindset in America does not concern itself with reality, only with the barely articulated and poorly understood myths which move them.

"You are the real terminators"

Swanzenegger

It is not a coincidence that the conquistador poses as the missionary. This is an essential state propaganda function for conquest. Taking away the idealistic and superficial veneer of religion and the idealized state (patriotism) the common man is confronted by conflicts too troubling to deal with. He might not be able to say they did this, they did that. He might see the problem is himself first and undertake a responsibility to shoulder the "gigantic unsolved social problems of our day."

<How can anyone see straight when he does not even see himself and the darkness he unconciously carries with him into all his dealings?>

C.G. Jung

[opihimoimoi]

11. He is the front man for Bush nx year.

Arnold is being used for the Big Pub Picture.

And, he doesn't even know it.

[Clete]

16. You are right, also

the media pushed this image over and over again and painted Davis as a loser. This impresses those who take a light rinse in deep thinking.

[opihimoimoi]

21. The Pub Psyops thing is evil.

[Cocoa]

17. Arnold is a superman

he will use his superhuman strength to crush California's problems the way the puny Davis was too weak to do.

[opihimoimoi]

20. When things go Bad, we often distract/rationalize with Delusion

:shrug:

[Cat Atomic]

18. Arnold won because everything's in the crapper and people

want to replace incumbents. In a way, Davis ran on Bush's economy and lost. I'm hoping Bush will be shown the door for the same reason next year.

[opihimoimoi]

19. Why not? Whats good for the Bush is good for the Gander.

Arnold will go down in History as the actor who stealthed his way onto Sacramento.

Bush will go down as the Loser who spun the flight suit image claiming a victory prematurely. He was handed "Gold" only to misuse and turned it to shit.

[camero]

22. People get exactly the kind of gov. they deserve

Various voter propositions left Davis few avenues to either cut the budget or raise revenues.

Then they go elect someone who will do neither, besides get on his knees and pray to Bush.

What stupidity. And the car tax would have been a good thing if he had left exemptions for hybrids, Segways, and other electric powered cars. Just think, people trading in thier Hummers for a hybrid to avoid the car tax.

I can only conclude that California voters are just as stupid as Florida voters, re-electing Jeb after the wildly idiotic idea of putting untreated sewage in the aquifers.

[symbolman]

24. The Liberals are all on the coast of California

and I'm going to use that as a diving board and spring away from the mainland..

coming your way opihimoimoi.. one, two months..

Maybe you could PM me and tell me which Island you live, I lived on Maui for one year, and I still think that Maui is no ka oi..

Come we go drink $1 puu puu Mai Tais until Bush gets groped by the California Furher..

[fshrink]

26. He won because

our political system and our lives are now entirely run by images. He won like Extra won over Tide. The government of the people for the people is dead, buried and fully decomposed, assuming that it ever existed. The American dream that any citizen could run for office shows its real historical meaning: the nightmare that any moron with an image-capital and a bundle of cash can rule the planet. No matter who wins, the people always lose.

[opihimoimoi]

27. Some how we must reverse the curse of the Mad/inept Voter

and reduce The Poor Voting Symdrome with Informed Voting.

How remains the challenge of any Informed Society.

Come, we make contest