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Good lighting, good writing Arnold Plays the PartBy Rick Horowitz
You've got to have your lines. When you're running for office -- especially if it's an office as important as, say, governor of the state of California -- you've got to have your lines. Arnold is running for governor of the state of California, and he's got his lines down cold. "This was a place of great dreams," he laments. "What has happened to California? What has happened to that feeling?" The news crews have come from as far away as Asia to point their cameras at him. No problem -- Arnold has had cameras pointed at him before. Besides, he's got his lines. "Our people haven't been undertaxed," Arnold tells the cameras. "The problem is the politicians have overspent." "From the time they get up in the morning and flush the toilet," he says, "they're taxed. When they go get a coffee they're taxed. When they get in their car they're taxed. When they go to the gas station they're taxed. When they go to lunch they're taxed. This goes on all day long. Tax, tax, tax, tax, tax." Ask him how he expects to work with a state legislature controlled by the other party, by the Democrats, and he's ready with another line. "My answer," he says, "is that I've lived with a Democrat for the last 17 years. I'm trained to deal with Democrats." A good one! Because everybody already knows that Arnold hasn't lived with just any Democrat for the last 17 years, but with Maria Shriver, the TV star and Kennedy Democrat. Exactly how this prepares him to deal with the rough and tumble of actual politics in Sacramento isn't entirely clear, but everyone has to admit: It's a good line. You've got to have your lines. And you've got to have your guys. When you're running for office -- especially if it's an office well beyond your own particular training or expertise -- you've got to have your guys. Arnold is running for governor of the state of California, and he's got his guys all lined up. Here's Warren Buffett, billionaire investor and Arnold's chief economic adviser. Here's George Shultz, former secretary of just about everything and Arnold's other chief economic adviser. As long as Warren and George and all the other advisers have all their experience in government and finance, it hardly matters that Arnold hardly has any, because they'll be advising him. He can just listen to them and take their advice -- kind of the way President Bush listens to his advisers when it comes to making foreign policy, and look how well that's working. One small problem with having all your guys lined up: They may actually not line up. They may not always agree with each other, or even with you. Take Warren, for example -- there's Arnold, saying taxes are too high and treating old Proposition 13, which limits property taxes, like it's Holy Scripture. And there's Warren, suggesting that Prop 13 is flawed and that property taxes might be too low! But there's a line for that, too. "I told Warren if he mentions Prop 13 one more time, he has to do 500 sit-ups." Another good one! You've got to have your lines, and you've got to have your guys. And you've got to have your alibis. When you're ducking questions -- especially if they're questions with answers that might worry people -- you've got to have your alibis. For instance, why won't Arnold provide specific proposals now? Why should the voters have to wait for a private, post-election audit of the state's finances before they hear what Arnold wants to do to their programs? "We have so little information," Arnold explains. "It's bad information." And anyway: "The public doesn't care about figures. What the people want to hear is, are you willing to make the changes? Are you tough enough to go in there and provide leadership?" Even with your guys, even with your alibis, you've still got to have your lines. Arnold's got his lines. Posted 8/21/03. Keep
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Rick Horowitz
