Did I Call This or WHAT?

Bill Whalen, a former Pete Wison staffer and current member of Team Arnold, writes in the Daily Standard:

"To the viewing public, Schwarzenegger is an outsider, not a politician--independently wealthy and not beholden to special interests. But on the inside, his ideals and goals are shaped and influenced by California's Republican establishment, many of whom fought the good fight, in the '90s, in Sacramento. [P] And for a first-time candidate seeking a road map to recovery, that's a good thing."

As I pointed out in my lead article in this week's Brainwash, Whalen has previously argued that the only way the state GOP can overcome its problems is to ride the back of a "star." It must be especially delightful for him that the star who is branding himself as an outsider is now relying heavily -- almost solely -- on yesterday's insiders, who are partially responsible for the mess California is in right now.

The real news of the day from Team Arnold is that it has now apparently adopted the entire platform of his main Republican competitor, state Senator Tom McClintock. With the exception of a proposed constitutional prohibition against the car tax, Arnold is now for (1) substantive workers' comp reform; (2) renegotiating the energy contracts entered into by Gray Davis; and (3) calling for an "outside auditing group" to assess goverment waste. The last one sounds just like McClintock's own Bureaucracy Realignment and Closure Commission, which was passed unanimously in the Senate and now awaits Assembly approval.

There is no greater talent in Hollywood than recycling someone else's script and sounding original. So politics isn't as far removed from entertainment as some people would have us believe.