Terminator for President?????

[mmichaelson]

Being the self-proclaimed, fence-sitting Republican that I am. . .I am curious to know what everyone thinks of "Ah-nold's" wish to be president?
Not that far off from a movie with Stallone and Bullock called Demolition Man from the 90's, where Arnold had been president.
Although I do not think a consititutional amendment that will allow a foreign-born citizen to become President of the United States is going to occur any time soon, what do the rest of you think?
Haggis, barfle, OT, Shapley: You guys have any strong opinions on this?
(Like I even had to ask that question)

[Shapley]

Saxy,

As much as I like Mr. Swartzenneger (sp.?), I think the idea of altering the Constitution for the virtue of electing one man is a bad idea. Some Democrats wanted to do away with the two-term limitation so that Clinton could run again. Some Republicans wanted the same thing during Ronaldus Maximus' second term. There are many avenues available to Arnold to serve his country, and serve it well. Let him take advantage of them. He may find one that offers him more power than the presidency would!

V/R
Shapley

[Selma in Sandy Eggo]

I'm keeping an eye on our Governator; CA is a pretty good-sized project for him, for now. It's not like there's not a lot to be done! As things currently stand, he has no particular national venue that he's aiming for, and the state gets a decent amount of his attention.

The Governator avoids several of the problems of many politicians. He doesn't need to eternally look for re-election money, which makes him relatively unbribeable. And it's common knowledge where he got the money (I contributed, and enjoyed the movies, to boot!) so we don't have real estate and stock market scandals to watch out for. He's thick skinned, pokes fun at himself as well as the rest of the politicians, and makes absolutely dreadful puns. These are all virtues. I rather like having him in Sacramento, wouldn't want him moving to DC.

Constitutional amendments are really difficult to enact; it's the ratifications that take the longest time. I don't know if any of us would live long enough for Schwarzenegger to get in as president. Although, if he manages to straighten out the CA power and budget messes, it might be worthwhile amending the constitution just to let him loose on the Federal deficit...

[OperaTenor]

I'm with Selma on this one, I think. If he pulls off getting CA out of its current quagmire, without erecting future hurdles\PITA's for future governors, then I may fall in behind him, too.

I think Barfle made an excellent point about California's unique problem with regards to popular initiatives. Even the very best of them, which I thought was prop 103, has never been fully enacted because there were legal loopholes the insurance industry pounced on to hold up the reforms. The bulk are like Barfle said, cut taxes and increase spending - and we can't have both.
The problems created by them must hamper the effectiveness of our state government.

But then, what do I know?....

[barfle]

Arnold's an interesting case, and I don't yet know if I think he'd be a good President (although certainly better by an order of magnitude over the current choices).

He's kind of a mixed bag as far as his politics go - quite liberal compared to the present tenor (pun not intended very much) of the Republican Party, with an eye toward social programs and away from interference (he's definitely NOT in the "religious right").

He's picked himself a big project, fixing California's budget problems. If he pulls it off, then he just might be able to run for König!

[RC]

Two things:

First, if we are going to amend the constitution to allow foreign born citizens to run for president, we need to pay attention to how we award citizenship. I'm not necessarily agin it but amending the constitution should be an extremely rare occurance and well thought out. (Unlike prohibition for instance).

Haggis speaks of how he feels about our founding fathers and the constition in another thread and in a rare instance of total accord, I can't add much to his statements.
There was an enlightenment in these men eons ahead of todays soundbite candidates. Generally speaking, I believe most Americans never learn enough about the birth of our nation and really take our constitution for granted.
So, I'm extremely wary of all amendments.

Second, Ahnold is most definately a soundbite kinda guy. I've preached about having knee jerk reactions so I'm on shakey ground here. Those stupid "girly man" statements and terminator quotes turn me off!!!!

[Selma in Sandy Eggo]

Arnie is guilty of the occasional soundbite comment. He's also disrespectful of many of the state reps (he's got lots of company there). Also, since he himself is fairly insensitive to criticism, he's also not delicate in criticising others. And blunt, and inclined to say what he actually thinks.

Not what politicians are used to. I love it.

He also has a long history of philanthropies, youth based service groups mostly, and personal service in things like the physical fitness council and such-like. He doesn't publicise this stuff all that much but it's all public record if you care to check.

I have to admit that I'm willing to give a lot of leeway to anybody who can (a) offend politicians, (b) make bad puns, and (c) make fun of himself, sometimes all in the same sentence.

[Nicole Marie]

Don't forget the occasional boob grabbing and "Eating isn't cheating" comment from Pumping Iron. Of course after he became governor when Pumping Iron was re-released that scene was missing along with the pot smoking, scenes with the numerous women etc. Love how PR folks rush to clean up an image. Leave it in, we all know he did it.

[Selma in Sandy Eggo]

Pumping Iron. Conan. "I fired him."

Yup. Crude. Rude. Indelicate. Insensitive. Undiplomatic and blunt. Virtues.

Your point would be?

[RC]

I guess thats OK if that's your criteria for electing government officials.

I like to at least have an inkling that a candidate can think their way out of a wet paper bag.

If they're full of show and I have to dig to find out if they're actually qualified, I feel patronized.

Thats just me

[piqaboo]

Ahnold is not stupid, and thats a key qualification. Stupid doesnt make the successful change from body builder to movie actor to movie star to politician (that first transition was probably the least likely and the hardest one). His campaign and method of educating himself re CA's issues demonstrated his ability to think himself out of a wet paper bag.

Nothing personal to him, but I wouldnt want to change the constitution so he could be president. I dont think he's managing CA any better than G.D.did, but as republicans go, he's alright. Possibly due to heavy exposure to family democrats?

I deplore the misbehavior with women, and should be keeping tabs on whether he's "outgrown" it or not. Its not atypical for movie stars and big league jocks, nor for high ranking politicians.

The man does have an awesome ability to focus. His father died immediately prior to one of the really "important" bodybuilding contests, and Ahnie stayed focussed enough to win. Not sure what that says about his priorities, but its impressive personal control. (Of course, could be he hated his father - I dunno).

[mmichaelson]

I agree. That was one of my main reasons for posting this.

I do not think that Arnold is, by any means, stupid. He may (like a certain Ms. Simpson) lack a little "common sense" that the rest of us have, but that does not mean that he is stupid. Successful people, regardless of how they come across have some kind of intelligent business saavy, in spite of managers, etc who help them along.

I wanted to see what people's reaction to him was, and what they think of his ambition.

I'm not sure how I'd feel about him being president. I'd like to see how he handles California.

Like others though, I am leery of amending the constitution on a whim. I think changes to the consitution should take years, and years is something that Arnold doesn't have on his side (he could be senile by the time the amendment occurs).

Food for thought, mainly

[RC]

but as republicans go, he's alright. Possibly due to heavy exposure to family democrats?

chuckle, chuckle

Speaking to intelligence in elected officials, I'm not saying Arnold's necessarily stupid, just that if he IS intelligent, what is the shame in promoting that?
Instead, when we think of Arnold, we think of his tough guy act because THAT's what Arnold promotes. Did anyone actually know if he was qualified for the job or were they voting for The Terminator. (be honest).

I feel like it's disrespectful to the public they serve. Think of it in proportion to how much you actually hear about issues that effect the public.
Too much I say...too much.

[piqaboo]

For comparison, this is the "image" I perceive each candidate as promoting:

Kerry - war hero, will fix US economy
Bush - war president, there's nothing wrong with the economy
Arnie - tough guy, will fix CA economy

Hmmmmm...... consistent messages.

[RC]

Successful people, regardless of how they come across have some kind of intelligent business saavy, in spite of managers, etc who help them along

I beg to differ. In fact, most "successful" people that I'm acquainted with were ambitious and/or lucky and some even had intelligence and/or business savvy, many are just nice to look at or have a great personality.

In reverse, I also know a lot of really intelligent people who probably wouldn't fit the American mould of "success". I bet you do too.

[RC]

Pig, well said.

[Nicole Marie]

Stop reading between the lines Selma.

[RC]

Kerry - war hero, will fix US economy
Bush - war president, there's nothing wrong with the economy
Arnie - tough guy, will fix CA economy

Geez...they all have the same effect on me

Although Kerry doesn't promote The Terminator thing as much as the other two.

Wouldn't it be refreshing to hear a little substance?!

[mmichaelson]

Selma, well, yes, most successful people (celebrities) do have looks/luck going for them - but they make use of it. . .and it does take some saavy to do that. . .
I'm not saying that Jessica Simpson or Britney Spears or Arnold are geniuses (heavens no!!) but there is some kind of saavy there.
But I do know intelligent, successful people who do not get the credit that they deserve.
and it stinks!

[OperaTenor]

Originally posted by RC:
Pig, well said.

RC, don't get me wrong. I think you're swell and all, but please stop calling my wife a pig.


PS. I'm perfectly willing to blame it on the font - makes the q's and g's hard to discern.

<small>[ 09-03-2004, 03:55 PM: Message edited by: OperaTenor ]</small>