Posted by Nicholas Beaudrot of Electoral Math
Michael Lewis, whose book Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game almost upended my life, is apparently the last pro-Arnold commentator standing. You should read the article, but make sure you're not drinking any fizzy drinks when you do.
Lewis is falling for the siren's call of the anti-politican; the notion that most professional pols are lesser men (how many fomer CEOs and multi-millionaire small businessmen are in the Senate?), and that just putting someone into office who's more in touch with the rest of us (why, exactly would a twenty-million-bucks-per-movie-actor fit into that category?) will both result in better governance and be more entertaining for the rest of us. Well, I suppose Arnold does make the headlines a bit more often; there aren't many other governors digging potholes so they can hold a photo-op to fill them.
Meanwhile, in the Reality-Based community, the Governator is currently losing head-to-head matchups with the completely unknown State Treasurer, -- he's getting beat by the state's uber-tweedy Accountant in Chief! But he still defeats Warren Beatty and Rob Reiner. Why? I can only conclude that Californians are tired of gimmicks, and interested in finding someone who will actually govern.