Once again I am amazed at the Stupidity of some Americans

[lonewolf0507]

The people of California should be ashamed. Selecting someone on name or face recognition alone. Once again, you have shown the world how shallow and fake you people really are.

[Classical_Liberal]

1. Neither campaign advertised their position on anything

so what did the voters have other than face recognition?

[mreilly]

12. All one had to do was look at Arnie's "platform"

... to see he hasn't a clue how to run the state or what strategies he will use to try to fix the economy. I can understand the voters getting fed up with a do-nothing politician and booting him out, but if the plan is to get fresh faces and new ideas in, then, clearly they didn't think this thing through in California. That's what annoys me more than anything else. God forbid the voters should take an hour or two to do some independent research, to investigate the issues, to look at a candidate's qualifications, background and focus. So much easier just to mindlessly let the TV tell us what to think then go out and vote for The Terminator.

The Jesse Ventura experiment failed in Minnesota; bringing the outside guy in achieved little. The same result will happen in California, but will the people wake up? Never.

[rooboy]

2. I think that's very unfair...

if Arnold was a nobody called "Jack Crump" and ran in that election, his clear vision for the future and policy formulation would have made him the obvious choice.

:-) :-) :-)

[Spentastic]

3. And

If he'd been ugly he still would have won :)

Anyway it's obvious that Americans are not stupid.

Well it used to be.

[even]

9. The base...

deserted the party and voted yes. It had to be,you can't and bitch if you win.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

4. Hypocrosy

What gets me is that the Republicans had a real conservative running, named McClintock, if memory serves. He was an experienced legislator and held to the classic conservative values (ie, anti-choice and anti-gay) that so many GOPs hold dear. But his whole campaign was swept aside by Ahnold, who got the backing, I believe, of many key players in the CA GOP. This gives the impression that what they were after was a win-and that they realized they couldn't get it if they ran a candidate who espoused truly conservative values.

Which just reinforces my opinion that the Repukes are after one thing, and one thing only-power.

[Devils Advocate NZ]

6. But of course...

The Democratic party pushing centrists is totally different eh?

[RobertSeattle]

7. Arnold should aways have a series of prefixes now

Whenever we at DU mention Arnold we should prefix is name with pro-Abortion, pro Gun Control, pro Gay Rights Arnold just to continually rub it in Republicans' faces.

[PsychoDad]

10. The republicans...

no longer have classic conservitives running the party. The ownership of the party sits squarley in the hands of the Neo-cons and christian right.

Arnold is as much an actor in this as he has been in any movie. The neo-cons pull the strings and the american people have been conditioned to salavate on commend and ask no questions.

[izzie]

11. Right on!

n/t

[Snellius]

5. The inmates have taken over the asylum

Having been born and lived in California most of my life, I'm not surprised. Californians can be rabidly anti-intellectual.

After Florida Al Gore started quoting that poem by Yeats' "The Second Coming":

Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all convictions, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.

[Ardee]

8. Are you all so naive ?

excepting those who infer that Arnold had a clue of course, you guys are equally clueless......edited to show sarcastic intent.......

This ridiculous choice by the people of California, who, by the way, are no more or less worthy of insult than are voters everywhere, should clearly send a message. The voters are sick to death of politicians.

When faced with a choice of candidates who actually had plans and ideas they chose someone who crushed cars! This is a rebellion against machine politics and the usual empty promise brigade.This is a revolt against politicos whose campaigns do not ever mirror their actions.

the good news: The election of this unfit groper will, in the end ,prove not much in the way of a different course for California, nor will he have a single clue as to how to get an agenda (if he actually finds one)through the democratically controlled legislature.

more good news: many folks who never voted before did so, out of anger no doubt and not out of any intellectually reasoned position, but they did participate..perhaps it will become a habit and through this habit will come actual thought........

"We in America do not have government by the majority, we have government by the majority of those who participate." Tom Jefferson

"Institutions are, in a moral sense, impotent unless they are supported by the sense of responsibility of living individuals." Al Einstein

"The progress of rivers to the ocean is not so rapid as that of man to error." Voltaire

Hint to the future democratic candidate for president; forget the rhetoric, people are sick of it, forget actual plans and agendas, noone will believe you are sincere, crush cars, bread and circusses are the ticket!

[LWolf]

13. From one lonewolf to another:

Are you a Californian? I am. And I'm not ashamed. I did my job.

How does this help? How is this constructive?