Joel Tagert

Well, Arnold Schwarzenegger is governor of California, and so American politics has finally made the leap from tragedy to farce.

Or is it the other way around?

Perhaps it depends on how you look at it.

One popular metaphor for the recall election was a circus. In this ring - Arnold

Schwarzenegger, the Muscle Man, ready to crush his enemies and hear the lamentations of their women! And in our second ring - Gray Davis, California’s Monarch of Mediocrity! And in our 133 other rings - everybody else, in no particular order!

One of those rings was filled with a rather small performer: Gary Coleman.

LikeSchwarzenegger, Coleman was (and, I suppose, still is) an actor, and also has no experience in government.

Unlike Arnold, everybody ignored poor Gary. Also unlike Arnold, Coleman does not (to my knowledge) have a bad habit of grabbing women’s breasts without their permission, and has never expressed an admiration for Hitler.

Of course, it was obvious from the start that Coleman didn’t stand a chance. After all, he’s so short. And black. And why would anyone vote for a small black man (who played a lovable child on television) when they could vote for a giant, muscular Austrian (famous for his role as a remorseless killer)?

Okay, okay, I’m oversimplifying. There are other reasons Coleman was ignored while Schwarzenegger won. Reasons like money. Lots of money.

Ten million dollars of Schwarzenegger’s money, to be exact — more personal wealth than was spent by any other candidate. Combine that with the $12 million in outside funds that Schwarzenegger raised, and you get a straightforward campaign strategy. First, outspend everybody. Second, pander to the cameras with an overabundance of meaningless catch phrases. Third, rely on Schwarzenegger’s fame to capture votes and media attention.
And as for the issues… what issues?

Can you name any of Schwarzenegger’s issues? I do know a couple of his positions, but for all the coverage, I didn’t hear about them from the mainstream media. I heard Arnold say, “Hasta la vista, Davis,” probably six times on television, but how does he feel about giving driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants? (He’s opposed to it, by the way.)

The California recall was and is bizarre, and it seems that many people have regarded it as such: a freak show for our voting amusement, an accident of government that somehow will turn out okay. Strange, sure; but why worry?

I worry.

I worry about a winning candidate who has no experience in government and seems mostly ignorant about it.

I worry about a candidate accused of sexually harassing no fewer than 16 women - before he was even in office.

I worry about a man who, when he was asked to respond to these allegations, alternately said that 1) the women were lying and he didn’t do it, 2) that these accusations were “dirty politics” concocted by the Democratic party, 3) okay, maybe he did do it, but that’s just how bodybuilders are, so we should just get over it, and 4) hey, he’s sorry; can’t a guy make a mistake (or 16, as the case may be)?

I worry because Schwarzenegger’s victory is the final triumph of style over substance in American politics.

Most of all, I worry about a pattern of power plays that disregard and devalue the principles of democracy in America. In the 2000 presidential election, we sat by as voters in Florida were systematically disenfranchised, and as the Supreme Court disenfranchised us all by appointing George W. Bush as president. We are sitting by as Republicans in Texas and here in Colorado attempt to redraw district maps to their advantage regardless of the law. And now this – the untimely ousting of California’s democratically elected governor.

I worry that what began as farce may end in tragedy.