2003-10-10|12:07 a.m.
So yeah, I was excited to find the last post I made about the recall had so much discourse come from it. But then it dawned on me, not a single person on there, with the exception to K�s pro-shesajar comment, is a California voter.
And the final days before the election were sort of like that too. I mean, I know that thing I posted (which I should remember to say was written by the California offices of Move-On) talked about his womanizing and connections to the Nazi party. But, really, as I still believe those are important things to consider (even if only to dismiss them, Crei), it was sad to me to see we stopped talking about the policy we will soon face. Schwarzenegger got away with never telling us exactly how he is going to fix the budget. Simply saying he�s going to cut back the frivolous is not good enough, guys. Call me crazy, but what exactly does this man consider frivolous concerns me.
I understand too why he was elected and I think I hit on this point a few entries back. Plus, a lot of pundits have been saying it over and over lately. It�s that people are so jaded with politicians and the system that they just want change�any change at all.
Now, as rational as that may be, it obviously has its flaws. Namely, that any change at all usually produces a sucky outcome. Mostly, because it�s an act of desperation. Think of the dude who wants sex, any sex at all. And what does he get? Yeah, he gets like herpes and genital warts or whatever. And that�s what we totally got. California wanted something new and now we pee red instead of yellow.
And about the sexual crimes Schwarzenegger committed� stop saying that it was a conspiracy to talk about the story when the LA Times did! It doesn�t matter if they did or did not. In fact, tons of news sources manipulate when they put a story out. It�s a fact of life, good or bad. What bothers me though is that people are mad that the women came out at the time they did. My friend MZ made a really good point. Why isn�t this the best time to come out with information about a person we�re about to place a great deal of trust in? Why wouldn�t we want to make the most informed decision and consider all information, even something like this? More than the fact that his views towards women might cloud his ability to create and govern fair policy, as K pointed out to me, it�s bothersome that he�s so power hungry. For more on his drive for power one can read this article in Salon.
Plus, as a woman, I think it�s disturbing that we as a society say there�s timeliness to when a woman can come out about a crime committed against her. Suddenly in defense to Schwarzenegger�s campaign to governorship, women cannot speak out about a sex crime that was committed against them. Fuck that. It�s a costly move by those women to come out. Of course people are going to say this crap about their intentions and they know that. I think it was pretty courageous. And suck it if you don�t like it when they spoke out about it. It was the crime against them and it�s none of your business when they feel it�s time to talk about it.
With that said, I think we�ll be ok. I mean, Schwarzenegger is a machine (yeah, a dumb Terminator joke) for former governor Pete Wilson and is willing to be one for the exchange, I believe, of being able to be powerful in another arena. Schwarzenegger�s whole consultant team is basically Wilson�s old team. Why knowing that are people thinking that Schwarzenegger is going to be the liberal socialist he�s been promising he is? Are we really that desperate that we were willing to shoot in the dark and not care it was ourselves that we hit?
I hope that Michael Moore is right from his latest email when he says that people are so unhappy with politics that they will spill that desire for change to the White House. I just hope that we don�t have to elect Steven Segal to feel better about it.
On our special voting day, I was out working the polls. I always like doing it. It�s a long day (6:30 AM to 9 PM) for very little money (60 bucks for the day), but when I am done I always feel good about it. I get to meet new people from the community in which I live and have to hold my tongue about politics in the most political forum everyday people can take part in. It�s a testament to growth for me.
The highlights of the day were talking to the photographers from the local San Diego County paper and the NY Times. For whatever reason, they were taking pictures at my precinct and though I am sure none of the photos taken of me made any publication, it was still neat. One photographer told me about two months he spent in Afghanistan during the recent war. I like that when people who go to these areas come back and say that the people are amazing and generous. Too often the news plays up how villainous that region and its people are, when really all I ever hear from personal accounts is the exact opposite.
What I also enjoy is seeing what Democrats and Republicans look like. As I signed people in, I could see their registered party next to their name. It�s funny to see what stereotypes play out. And as bad as this is going to sound, I�d even try to guess what the voter was before confirming. Last time I worked the polls, I played this game with a high school girl who was forced to work the polls because she had AP Government. I liked her a lot. She was Croatian (which meant she had cool stories about her family and the former Yugoslavia), liberal, and had the best sense of humor. For our game, we�d set up a system of points based on whether or not we got their party correct. I have to admit, I was pretty good at it.
For the record, Republicans are uglier.