PAUL HOGARTH

Whoa this feels great!!! With 81.9% of the precincts counted, ALL of Arnold Schwarzenegger's propositions are headed for defeat -- which is where his re-election hopes are headed one year from now!!

I guess you don't exactly endear yourself to Californians when you call other politicians "girly men," lie to public school children, eviscerate higher education in this state, veto marriage equality for same-sex couples, and then brag about how you're going to kick nurses' butts. This time around, when Arnold wanted "DA People" to decide his right-wing agenda because Democrats in the legislature wouldn't put up with his political blackmail, California voters sent a message -- loud and clear -- that we don't want this bullshit.

Back when Arnold became governor through an unprecedented recall election, I had two conflicting predictions of what would happen. My Big Fear was that Arnold would be the next Ronald Reagan -- a B-rate movie actor who gets elected Governor of California and proves to be a charismatic leader who inspires a right-wing revolution whose intentional goal is to starve the public sector. My Big Hope was that Arnold would end up more like Jesse Ventura -- a plain-spoken celebrity governor who people voted for as a Joke, and then got sick of him when the joke got old.

Hasta la vista, Arnold!! And on that note, it's 12:30 a.m. and I'm going to bed.

Update: With 84% of precincts reporting, the closest initiatives (Prop 73 and Prop 75) are both down by 3 points.

But looking at the Secretary of State's website gives cause for even more optimism. Almost all the counties' tallies have been added except two -- (a) Los Angeles County, which is overall (but not solidly) a Democratic county, and (b) Alameda County, whose two largest cities are Oakland and Berkeley. In other words, folks, it's over.

If you want to get a chuckle, check out who lives in Arnold's neighborhood.

# posted by Paul Hogarth (SF) @ 12:28 AM