Davis OUT : Schwarzenegger IN :(
 

god damn Californians!

you will now suffer for the tenure of your governor (or would you choose to replace him?)

I love this. I'm gonna laugh myself to sleep and laugh all day at work tomorrow.

Come to think of it I have something else to laugh about:

Need help packing your bags? :lol:

On a serious note. All politicians need to start doing their jobs because people obviously don't trust any of them.

I saw the "honorable" Jesse Jackson on Hannity and Colmes saying that the Dems will likely challenge it in the morning or at the very least file for a recall of their own within the next few months. At any rate what a circus this will become. I think this was a good move, hopefully Arnold will get something done, although I can already see the Dem controlled legislature cock blocking every little thing.

**I just heard that there is already a fund in upwards 3 million dollars to get the NEXT recall moving when politically in their favor.**

yeah. i'm expecting that too.

they gotta make arnold the governor who served the shortest time in office. :D

If the dems do that they'll look dumb as hell because they're basically saying that they don't want to give Arnold a chance because they're afraid that he might do good and make all of them look like idiots.

no no, give him a little time to prove himself (which i doubt he'll do).

give him, say 11 months? :D

I mean seriously, Gray Davis was a joke of a governor he had what like a 26% approval rating??? The economy was dive bombing and extremely un business friendly... what's the worse that could be done in a years time (or do they vote in 2006?) ?

I was so disappointed to see that Californians appear to be overwhelmingly supporting a candidate that has not only not provided a platform but has almost made a joke out of not having one.

I find it refreshing that Arnold didn't have all the answers, hopefully that will leave him open to compromise and getting some shit done.

BTW he most definently had a platform, he was an ultra liberal republican who was anti-gun, pro-choice, and anti-taxes... sounds like a sound platform to me.

Look who the compitition was, a joke inept governor, and a racist sepratist. Arnold was the ONLY choice. That or Gary Coleman.

But don't you think the real problem is that the citizens of the state have no faith in their politicians?

Marey Carey.

------------------

I think that governor Arnold is more of an idiot than president gwb.

I dont think Arnold even know what he stood for. The guy was afraid of going to debates where the questions were presented in advance. How can a guy that doesnt know his own platform run a state as large as CA ?

How do you know he can't run the state? Some simple facts. Arnold is a winner. He succeeds at everything he does. He will surround himself with people who will help him.

Lastly, IMO, he's in a no win situation and I think most people think the same.

I think it was a smart thing to do...to not debate if he was not ready. dig?

If all else fails he can always travel back in time and terminate problems before they start right?

Arnold was elected solely because of his fame and the high anti-Davis turnout. His whole campaign consisted of concealing how ignorant and incompetent he is.
His name got him into the governor's mansion, but it won't run the state of California. He's going to need to do that himself.

...and America has become an international laughing stock.

I can't believe that intelligent people would vote for a man with no experience, no platform and no credibility. Sure, I could see a few college students getting loaded and going to the polls to vote ARNIE!

but man, what a joke

We are of the belief that any citizen has the right to hold office. He hasn't proven himself to be faulty yet, so don't make such accusations. Besides I think alot of people would rather have someone like Arnold in office rather then a career politician.

I voted today. At least I can say in two years that it wasn't my fault. :)

I think it was the men with 'experience' that led to what is basiclly a popular revolt. Arnold didn't just win, he won with what appears to be a MAJORITY vote. He didn't need it, but he got it.

Whats also amusing is that 60+% of California voted for a republican in this election, if that doesn't scare the crap ouf of the Democrat/Socialists nothing will.

He doesn't really need to be in for a great long time anyway. Just enough time to deliver California to Bush in 2004. Then he can do whatever he wants, maybe make a movie or something - leave a trusted and impartial adviser like Pete Wilson to the day to day running of things.

huzza!

I hope they do recall him. The use of the recall in this sense is a complete joke and it sickens me.

BTW how can their be such an assured victory when less than 20% of precints have reported and its 55/45?

Statistically, if you have a large enough sample, the sample tends to mirror the overall results. While statisticians get paid a lot of money to correct for this error or that, the basic truth is that if you have a random sample of people to start with you can pretty accurately estimate how the end result is going to turn out. Twenty percent of precincts in CA is a hell of a lot of people.

Of course, that didn't work so well in the 2000 election, but that was a special case.

who cares its california

actually right now im so fucking glad its ALL OVER becaue christ i was getting hella annoyed with all the recall shit

now i hope its a dead horse and the beating sticks get taken away

Good Morning Governor!
http://www.pathguy.com/lectures/arnold.jpg

How can you liberals be whining so baddly.

This was almost PURE democracy in action.

The people voted, it was a majority, a HORRIBLE gov was removed.

Maybe Arnold will suck, maybe he won't, maybe he will get lucky, but this was the will of the people. Oh wait I remember, liberals only care about the will of the people if its for the RIGHT(left) people.

We can "whine" because the recall was not meant to be used in this manner and it sets a horrible precident.

What manner was it ment to be used?

This wasn't even CLOSE. Davis was reviled. I think we need more of this in government. If this were a republican you would be dancing in the streets.

What he means is that if Bustamante won, it would have been done correctly.

The recall wasn't meant to be used in order to end a term midway just because support is lost no matter how grossly. The intended use is for it to be exercised only in times of extreme corruption or misconduct. While most democrats won't even tell you that Davis was a great politician, most will tell you that the economy out there was not his fault and that his administration was free of corruption.

"Free of corruption" uh huh. Ya know I got this bridge...

Okay, by comparative standards ;)

And this belief my friend, is why they lost.

I'm disheartened by the idea that the governor will be nothing more than a figurehead, a way the party got into office. He's got no political experience, and he wouldn't have been elected in a real election. But hey, whatever. Watch the country go to hell in a handbasket. I like my mayor, Rendell. He's a solid guy, and you know what else? He can run for president! Sorry, Arnold. Demolition Man notwithstanding, this is as far as you go. GOD WILLING.

Can you honestly tell me that you think there was something he (or for that matter any single governor) could do when a nation wide economy hits and your state suffers? I mean, my state has had to cut way back on its spending to offset the impacts of the war we waged in Iraq. Hell, my university had to cut a flaming crap ton of its programs, but we aren't foolish enough to believe that it is our governors fault or that he really could have done anything about it.

Maybe if you didn't give benefits to people who weren't from this country... or grant 30,000 sex changes to state workers with tax payer money???

Those are legislative decisions though, not gubernatorial ones.

Yep, it's the will of the people all right. Unfuckingbelievable. Davis was ten months into his second term. What did everyone know now that they didn't know when they reelected him? I don't defend Davis but I don't revile him either. All states are facing critical financial problems. This was a political event generated largely by one man with the money to make it happen. Once again the herd just followed. And now they have voted in Arnold. Jesus, even Jesse Ventura had been a mayor first. Spare me the righteous and highfallootin' diatribe about citizen government and the American Dream. California is bigger than most countries. What a bunch of media mesmerized sheep. Life is stranger than fiction. Well California, enjoy your adulation. You've got a big strong daddy to take care of you now. Everyone can go back to sleep.

Did you see those guys who parked a U-Haul truck outside the Governers mansion (or where-ever) there?

That's comedy. Mean to be sure, but hey, we get shit from everyone but Leno =).

From what it sounds like Davis had a piss poor grip on how to handle the economy shipping out jobs and raising taxs on business doesn't encourage growth...

You know what else is funny, apperently Bustamante is going to be on Arnold's staff as his Lt. Gov (not by choice obviously), is there anyway that Arnold could get rid of him?

I don't know. Davis gets no love from me, but still I see the Cali economy as the legislatures failure and beyond that I still can't see a bad economy as a reason for recalling an official. Hell, the economy of this country has sucked for over a year but we aren't recalling Bush.

Sadly nothing will get done because of the legislature, despite Ahhnold's economic staff which could help the situation, the Dems will cock block.

by economic staff, u mean warren buffet, right?

I don't know. He's a moderate and he has Buffet's support and chair of the California Women's League. Partisanism isn't as overblown as a lot of the press would have you believe. Its mostly just of the war and exacerbated by the upcoming elections and the democratic primaries. Most legislation still passes without a hitch except pretty extreme stuff.

Davis had a 28% approval rating, and yet the recall process is somehow being misused?

WHAT?!

How low of an approval rating does someone need to justify being recalled? Perhaps 5% approval rating if it's a Democrat in office, and 49% if it's a Republican? :rolleyes:

If Schwarzenegger wins, he has won legitimately. For Democrats to organize a recall of him with absolutely no reason other than "waah, he booted our buddy out of office" will be misuse of the recall process.

They won't recall him because they spent all that time bitching over it in the first place. They'll look silly if they started one.

What they'll do is have the ACLU and people file lawsuits about hanging chads and disenfranchised voters. They'll still look silly but whatever.

Assuming every vote against the recall is a vote for Davis...

Davis currently has 46% of the votes
Arnold has only about 27%

go figure.

Can any Californian tell me whether media speculation about the winner started before all of the polling places closed.

Dirty republicans stole another one from you dems!!! hahaha slowly its all coming together and the world will be ours muahahahaha!!!

Seriously though, Davis really only has Bustamante to thank for his defeat as far as this scenario goes.

I never said I was a dem
granted, I'm registered to vote as a dem
however, I registered years ago when clinton actually made them look good

I just want a good man in the office right now
I wanted only to bring attention to the percentages involved and have all of you people make your own decisions based on them.

Californians voted for change.
They voted for a strong person because they wanted a strong change.
Good luck to a place I called home for one of the decades of my life!

hal, you put the wrong spin on that percentage figure of yours. you're not considering the fact that there are other candidates. now, if Arnold was the ONLY candidate running for the recall, then you could spin it that way.

look at it this way. after 75% of the precincts reported in, 2,762,000 voted yes on recall. of those that voted yes OR no 2,320,000 voted for Arnold. then if you add up the rest of the votes towards the other candidates, you'll see it's pretty much equal to the amount of people that voted no on the recall.

Davis did NOT get 46% of the votes. most of those votes just went to those who complain that this sets an ugly precedent and just voted for someone else in case the recall did go through.

Ok.. first the vote is divided into 2 parts...

Yes
No

Those who voted 'No' are now finished.. their vote is against the recall. They may not all be for Davis, but the are definately not FOR Arnold. 46% have voted 'No'

Those who voted 'Yes' are then divided amongst the REST of the candidates.

Arnold has 48% of those votes, which is only about 26-27% of the total if my math is vaguely correct.

Now, I could be going about this all wrong because the NUMBERS don't make sense.

The number of people who voted for the recall is signifigantly less than the total of votes for the recall candidates.

It's becoming aparent to me that the people who voted 'No' also filled out the second ballot and submitted it.

Which seems to make sense...
"I don't want a recall, but if it is decided, then I want <fill in some actor's name here> to be the new governor."

Voting 'no' on the first question is not waiving your right to a contigency plan.

As of 4:30am CST, the numbers are as follows:

I think that this shows pretty overwhelmingly that Californians were looking for change, and not looking for it with the Democrats. Republican candidates had 2/3 of the votes. It's just a shame that the Republican Party is too gutless to enact any real progressive changes anywhere.

also, i gotta say that i take offense at the comments you made Gertie, especially this one.
personally, i researched the "name" candidates down to the green party rep, Camejo, and even a couple independants to make sure i made what i hope to be the right choice. as well as my family members, friends and lots of coworkers did the same. i will say though that i think people tend to let media and smear tactics sway their decisions.

i mean, come on though... do you really think that the more than 1.5 million people that signed the petition to recall are nothing but sheep? that's just silly. by the time the votes are in, Arnold will easily have 3 million votes for him. also, in the past 8 gubenatorial elections in california, a recall HAS been attempted. they just never amounted to anything because not enough people were unhappy. something like a 26% approval rating for Davis? NICE! shit, only 350,000 signatures are needed to start a recall, and we got 1.5 million plus! and only one recall has succeeded besides this one in the last 80 years! sheep indeed!

i believe Arnold will actually do a good job. Arnold knows more than people think. saying that he doesn't know shit is kinda ignorant in my opinion, and shows that you haven't really researched into much at all. he earned a university business degree and went into the real estate market buying property before his movie career ever went anywhere. he's the national chairman of the national youth center inner city games which first started in L.A.. he backed prop 49, big time....... i could go on.

and as for the people that bring up the US economy after 9/11 causing california's deficit, blah blah blah..... we have a 38 billion dollar deficit, MORE than 5 of the next highest states deficits ADDED TOGETHER! the next highest deficit is owned by New York with 11.5 billion and they had to deal with rebuilding after 9/11!

no, there's no doubt the Davis administration had a lot to do with cali's deficit.
i'll tell you one thing we didn't know.... he lied about the size of the deficit. before he was reelected, he reported the deficit to be close to 20 billion. after the election, he said "oops, tack on another 18 billion to that"

so then you got mismanagement of funds like the 35% increase in spending after Davis took office. after the internet boom took a dive and tax revenue's dropped, the spending kept happening. then there's the electricity crisis which he handled so badly..... blah blah blah.... then we've got SB60 signed in, a triple in car tax (i'm spending $600 for registration this year instead of the $240 i could be paying) that's just a little excessive, don't ya think?

nah, the people are just unhappy and they have a right to be. to me, this is sending a message to all those politicians out there that we're not gonna take no more crap! a huge reason i voted for Arnold is his stance on cutting the bullshit government special interest spending and opening up the books for an audit (something Davis was not willing to do) putting a cap on budget spending. what do we all do when we go broke? keep ourselves from spending on shit that we don't have the money for! let's see, what else.... indian tribes paying their fair share of the taxes from the gaming revenue, getting rid of SB60, getting rid of the triple on car tax (make it something reasonable) and setting up an open government ammendment so the sneaky politicians can't get their midnight crap through the door without the public knowing. and these are just some of the reason's i voted yes on the recall, and for Arnold. you should read his agenda.

you know what though, ultimately there are reason's for both sides and everyone's going to have their opinion. but bashing the new governor before he's even had a chance is silly ignorance. give him some time. if he fails, i'll whole heartedly admit i voted for the wrong guy.

Halx I don't understand how you got your %'s.

and then

More people voted for Arnold then against the recall, it wasn't a vote for the recall OR a vote for a new canidate. In fact I think Arnold got more votes then Davis got in the 'real' election.

Ustwo,

Halx probably had different numbers because they are still fluctuating (some are filtering in).

I do see now that Arnold has received more votes than the no votes which makes me very glad. Not that I support Arnold but due to the fact that I was concerned over the format of the recall ballot (the possibility that the winner could take the seat with less votes than explicit votes for the current governor--which is what no votes are).

However, I would like to see if he actually did get more votes than Davis did in the previous election. If you have a quick source I would like to see it for my own edification.

BTW, this doesn't seem to be due to the college students. Every student I spoke to voted no and either Camejo or Bustamante. The main supporters of Arnold were those who either never voted before or haven't voted in recent years. My understanding is that the majority of them were working-class, non-college educated, white males (NASCAR dads). Despite the "sky is falling" predictions this demographic still retains a majority in our society but it sure takes an earthquake to get them away from the tv and/or job and off their asses to vote.

Davis won the CA election with 48% of the vote (same as Arnold), but don't have exact figures. When I have more time I'll try to find it.

Kids are stupid. I rather doubt that Arnold support is only comming from the unwashed masses.

Thanks. Been a few days since I posted here, now I remember why--so much for the new spirit of TFP Politics!

I didn't make a claim about who his only supporters were--just the bulk of the people he was able to mobilize. Pundits are claiming this is the same demographic Bush is aiming for in 2004.

I was only explaining what I had heard from commentators and the people I personally spoke to. But you can call us stupid if you want to, I suppose...

Votes from Davis-Simon

Arnold got more votes then Davis did when he was relected :)

CA Secretary of State Website - Recall Question Results

CA Secretary of State Website - Candidates for Governor

Here are the up to date numbers. Use them how you will - statistics don't lie, only statisticians.

Reality is that some people can lead and govern and some cannot. There have been plenty of professional/career politicians who have failed at the statewide or national level. There have been others who are new to the political scene who have succeeded in those situations. Californians were tired of the career politicans and were looking for something new. Arnold provided them with an option for change that they knew, and for whatever reason trusted. It is clear that the people of California have spoken loudly and clearly that they wanted change, let's all hope that they made a good decision. Let's all also hope that there is not a serious recall movement on their new governor and that there is not a spree of recalls across the country due to this one's success.

All I hope is that Arnold can get the right people in the right places to start fixing things around California. I don't think he can do much by himself, but some people say all you need is common sense to govern. As long as more money is put into education, the budget gets balanced, and they stop spending so mcuh tax money on illegal immigrants, I'll be happy.

I hope Arnold knows what he's getting into. I was pretty surprised by the results. The people have spoken. It will be interesting to see how Arnold governs. People are quick to call him a dumbass, but that isn't really the greatest argument I've ever heard. Who knows, maybe he'll do some good. I don't envy him at all. It'll either make or break him.

just fyi.... california's recall was established in 1911 and there have been a total of 31 attempts of a gubenatorial recall. this quote is from a fox news article regarding recall history.
i really doubt this will become any more of a trend than it already is. only reason the recall became such a big deal is because this one actually succeeded. if it hadn't made it to the ballot this year, people would still not realize how common the attempts have been. i would hardly call the success of the second recall in 80 years abusing.

Damn...and I was rootin' fer Mary Carey. What percentage did she get, anyway.

Governor Schwarzenegger....I am sorry but I just have to laugh at those crazy californians. And yes, I must agree with the-marq, in that I think our political system will now be the laughing stock. But....who the fuck cares, I sure don't... I am just gald that Arnold is a republican and he might just be able to shut the fuck up those idiot hollywood democrats like barbara strisand.

You know, one thing that I wonder is exactly what the Republican party is expecting to gain from this situation in the long term. The CA deficit problems are severe - but it took years of progressive tax policies and high spending to get them to where they are now. There is virtually no chance that Arnold, Davis, or anyone could fix that quagmire in two years.

By saying that Davis should be removed for not fixing the budgetary crisis, there is an implication that someone else could do better. And when that person doesn't? What will the excuse be then?

I actually like Arnold, and I think he is an intelligent man with an amazing drive and will to succeed. I just don't know that this will be the best start to a political career - seems like the deck is stacked against him in terms of producing tangible results in a quick fashion.

By the way, I saw that the proposition on racial information gathering was defeated. What about the infrastructure proposition? Was that one passed?

Both proposals failed. I'm worried about the 2 million absentee ballots that haven't been counted and won't be for months. Even though I really thought Davis needed to be kept I think it is time to put this behind us and move on for the sake of California and to focus democrats on the upcoming presidential election. If those ballots come back and its closer than we thought or even opposite I really hope Davis won't withdraw his concession.

"Look who the compitition was, a joke inept governor, and a racist sepratist. Arnold was the ONLY choice. That or Gary Coleman." (I don't know how you get these quotes of other posts to appear highlighted the way you do.)

I thought there were about 138 choices. California elected a very complex man who claims to be Republican but talks like a liberal Democrat. But thinking about that, that suits California perfectly. They have no clue how pinko they are.

Everyone thinks arnold is stupid and cannot govern that state. But look at his campaign. He was by far, the smartest strategist. He figured out how to appeal to teh largest amount of voters. He took a position that republicans can respect, on his economic plans. He took a stance that democrats accept on his social issues. He was the only candidate that could adequately appeal to BOTH parties. i haven't seen recent figures but as of last night, 25% of teh people that voted no on recall voted for arnold. What other politician has been able to get that kind of cross-party support? He is also the perfect man to get california back on teh right track. He surrounded himself with very intelligent people. He can begin to get teh state back on track with the support of both republicans adn democrats. At the end of his term, he can then put himself behind a strong republican like Mcclintoch. He can succesfully transition the state over to another party without causing much damage. The voters wont go from one political extreme to another, and get angry with him and he wont polarize the state. Even if he does a bad job and teh democrats get back in, it will be better off than if he hadn't gotten elected at all. The republicans will be happier, as they had their chance in office, and teh democrats will be happier so they can say "i told you so". All around, it is a win-win situation.


As for college age student not voting for teh recall....im the exact opposite. Attending a community college, which were hit very hard, i saw first hand teh effects of davis/bustamante cutting money to teh schools. I saw many of my classes being cut, i saw tuition increase, i saw a lack of counselors, i saw almost all the of part-time faculty have their jobs threatened or lost. I saw teh computer classes not allowed to print because we couldn't afford the paper. The complaints of education cuts weren't just some bean counters talking about theory this time...

That's not how it worked. Even if you voted 'no' on the recall, you still got to vote on which candidate you wanted in the event the recall passed. Obviously there were a fair number of people that voted 'no' on the recall, but then went on to vote for Arnold or McClintock.



Very well said.

A U.C. grad student or a community college undergrad...hmm...

When you get up here we'll explain the political complexities and why your anger was misdirected. In the meantime, just focus on your intro classes ;)

Haha smooth i love that one :D

Personally doesn't mater much at the private level anyways but my friend out at the U.C.'s got the same feelings :D

And yes, when you vote yes/no on recall, you can vote on candidates as well. I know many who voted no yet chose say Schwarzneggar or anyone else.

As for the situation - if he's trying to get anything out of it politically, i think he chose the wrong palce to do it. When you go in with a deficit that huge, he himself won't be making all that many things that will be fixing it - it will be California itself in the end.

And boy does Oregon want a recall itself... bankrupt states anyone?

As for people who aren't from CA - its great, you've had your fun, but honestly if you ain't here, you wouldn't know.

I'll tell you the truth - there ARE many mindless sheep out there who voted Ahnold just cuz he was the governator or whatever term youwanna tack on. Its that simple - to them, who gives a fuck what happens 3 years later from him as long as it doesn't hurt 'em.

And IMO these candidates were all jokes - good thing i'm not gonna be staying in this state too long anyways when its grad time - better jump off the sinking ship! (which has, btw, been sinking for quite some time IMO despite being the best place to live in IMO - says a lot for the rest of the country :D ;) :rolleyes: )

Oh and Peryn - i myself know of the cuts and what not. Davis during his first term did a fine job IMO in education - hella lot of stuff i had in high school unavailable to my seniors before.

Personally i have that gut feeling things aren't going to get better until after arnold is gone himself -

And Dale Kemp - yes CA is a pretty wacko like that. The sad part, IMO, of all this is how it ends up though - the rich / already in place get the chance to get to power, while hte common people who signed up don't get a chance. Not that most deserve the job anyways, but there are those out ther who deserve the chance but can't simply because they can't bring out the money for campaigns.

it actually only took a little over a year to create the deficit california is in now. in 2000, california had a 12.3 billion SURPLUS (not deficit). in one year, tax revenue went up 23% and government spending matched that. then in 2001 when the high-tech bubble burst, tax revenue plunged 14%, but government spending went up another 12 - 15%. hence the deficit we're in now.
and as for both your comments about the deficit not being fixed any time soon, it's already been projected that by the end of the next fiscal year, the deficit will be cut by more than half of what it is now, down to 16 billion. it would be below 10 billion, but Arnold is going to remove that insane triple car tax fee, thank god. by the end of Arnold's term, if things go the way he plans, the deficit will be pretty much gone, or close to it.

we will just have to wait and see.

Mitzkrieg - Thanks for a well thought out and articulate opinion. It's the first one I've heard from CA. I stand by my own opinion but what the hell, it's over now, let's see how he does. Clearly he has been sucessful in his life endeavors. And he's no more difficult to understand than Kissinger or Shalikashvili. BTW, the media to which I referred is Arnold's movies. And I'm really looking forward to seeing what role Maria plays. Good luck to you all!

This is why I said kids are stupid, and its not ment to be insulting, its just that most dont' understand the 'big picture'. They don't see that just because YOU had it better, doesn't mean it was good for the State/Country. Sure if someone increases spending on schools, schools will have more 'stuff' for the students (though most of the money doesn't reach them). So therefore Davis must have done a good job. Never mind he was spending money the state didn't have.

Politicians like to 'buy' votes with other peoples money. It is standard for all democrats, and a good number of republicans as well. You have a problem? We will spend money on it and fix it, vote for me! Its basicly the old 'a chicken in every pot' lie.

It is standard for all democrats and all republicans. Don't kid yourself.

No its not, if it was I'd vote Liberterian.

So now you put your money where your mouth is. Who was the last Republican you voted for?

Jim Ryan, he lost.

thanks gertie. yanno, hopefully i didn't come off as upity and a mr. knowitall in here. if i did i apologize. something just happened to me this time around in these elections. this is the first time i've felt passionate about anything political. i was upset with the job Davis was doing, and i really tried my best to look into the situation to decide if it was worth going through this whole recall process. i didn't want to be one of those "media mesmermized sheep" (hehe, yup, thought you were talkin about news media, gertie) and i wanted to make sure we either kept the right person in office, or put another person in his place that would do at the very least, a little better, or no worse than the previous person.

but i'll tell ya, i think this whole situation has helped matured me a little bit in the politics area. i think in the past, i didn't do enough research on my own and had the stance that if i didn't really like any candidates, then i sure as hell would'nt vote for someone. in hindsight, i should have voted for the person that was the "lesser of the two evils" so to speak. in this election, i think and hope i voted for the right person. i really think Arnold and his administration will handle things a lot better, and the state of california will benefit from this.

thanks for everyone's comments, and sorry if i stepped on any toes