Still Liking Arnold

The "L.A. Times" reports today, that according to a new poll, 58% of Californians now disapprove of the job that Arnold is doing as California governor. I'm not actually that surprised. If you don't live in California, you can't comprehend how many millions have been spent on anti-Arnold TV commercials lately. It's been a real onslaught. But I just can't bring myself to not like this guy.

Maybe the thing about taking on "special interests" is that everybody is for that as long as you don't take on their particular special interest. Arnold has been bold (naive?) enough to say that he would stand up for "the people" against the special interests. Maybe what this proves is that there is no "the people", only a lot of people who all have "special interests."

I'm pretty much a life-long Democrat and he was the first major Republican I ever voted for. I'm also from a family of teachers, so I hate that teachers are in this beef with Arnold, and I hope common ground can be found soon. But I'm still in that 42% that wants him to succeed. Here's why:

A lot of it is stylistic. I like his optimism and his general good humor. But I also like that he is an immigrant success story which makes him credible on this polarizing issue, and someone who might help us fashion a workable solution. The fact that he's a Republican movie star married to a Democratic TV star (and a Kennedy, no less) gives me hope of seeing purple in this country. In an era of extremes on both sides, it's good that Arnold is a centrist with a good heart. And I really like that he's not afraid of sacred cows or of standing up to the political status quo. Plus, he's a very, very bright man. If he wasn't governor material when he ran, he certainly is now.

He's not perfect, but so what? He's really trying and I appreciate the effort. Rather than going approve/disapprove and creating more polarization, the solution is to give the man feedback -- he's a good listener -- and work together on these problems. And everybody needs to remember that there are other special interests out there besides our own.