Sunday, October 12, 2003

Howard Kurtz's column, mentioned below, also has a few tidbits about the last minute slime dump aimed at Arnold and how it failed. Tina Brown, I think, has it wrong by averring that the impeachment actually helped Clinton, since Democrats haven't done all that well since then. It might look like Clinton is doing wonderfully from New York City, but that's debatable, at best. As for lefties, like Steve Chapman, who want to hurl the hypocrisy of the right, back at them, I don't see much traction for their argument. There are plenty of conservative Republicans who wouldn't touch Arnold with a ten-foot pole--they're called McClintock voters--but the argument that the main reason for impeaching Clinton was because of moral revulsion for his tomcat ways isn't really correct. It had more in common with Watergate, the disrespect of the man for the office of trust that he held and his attempts to cover it up. They fail to remember that Republicans turned against their own man when he was wrong, which the Democrats indignantly refused to do. It's not like Arnold was the first choice of the Republicans in California. He'd have had a tough time getting through a Republican primary, but this recall was different. It was a free for all, and enough Democrats voted for him that it more than made up for the finicky conservatives.

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