I have taken a keen interest in the race ever since it was announced that roughly 200 people were actively working to be on the ballot. two of the people i was rooting for were a 19 year old college student who wanted to get in to reform education spending and the owner of an imported mask shop who seemed only interested in changing marijuana laws. Both candidates have since left the race for various reasons.
I looked into their platforms (such as they were) and tried to see who was running and what Cali might have to face if these people get in. Some of the candidates suprised me, actually having some well thought out platforms and arguments as to why california needed these changes. They weren't always right, but still, there was some reasoning behind them. Others seemed to be in it for the publicity (porn starlets included).
The candidate who seems to be in the lead (with almost no campaigning at all so far) is Arnold Schwarzenegger. Oddly enough, not many people know what his platform is or what he intends to do if elected. Some media analysts have speculated that Arnold himself may not know just yet. Since i had looked into Gallagher's and Gary Coleman's campaigns with a certain degree of seriousness, i figured it was only fair to give Arnold the benefit of the doubt and give his site a look.
The official site for the Schwarzenegger campaign is www.joinarnold.com. If you go there you will see a nice picture of Arnold and his wife Maria Schreiver and a brief message saying that california has so much potential and it's time for someone (one presumes they mean Arnold) to return California to the people. There is also a promise that the full website will be coming soon. You can click on one of the links to send money to the Schwarzenegger camp or you can click on a contact e-mail link and ask for information. The only thing you will not see is a list of campaign promises, views on issues, or a list of what Arnold intends to do if elected. I clicked on the link for the info e-mail and said something to the effect of "what is he intending to do?"
Not 24 hours later and i recieved an e-mail from the man himself!
Thank you for taking the time to contact me with your ideas, opinions, and generous offers of assistance. The enthusiastic outpouring of support for my candidacy has been fantastic!With your help, we will soon return California's golden promise by rebuilding our economy, reforming the political system, and providing hope and opportunity for our children's futures.
Thank you again for your offer of assistance and advice. A member of my campaign team will be in touch with you in the very near future.
warmest regards,
Arnold
now, please note that he still hasn't really told us what it is he intends to do. Even the mask shop owner wrote back to me personally and said "Hey, my website isn't going to be up since i'm not going to run after all but my platform would have been..."
Oh well.
At least i got to swagger around talking with an accent informing people that "Ahnold wrote to me, so don't mess wid me or he'll come to your haus and mess yoo up! Ja!"
And if you think about it, Arnold really doesn't have to write me back. He doesn't even really need to campaign at all. He's got this election in the bag already with two ready-made slogans, the obvious one being the Total Recall angle. But there was also one made up by a t-shirt company that says simply Vote for me if you want to live. now if that's not a campaign slogan i don't know what is!
8/22/03 UPDATE: there is still no formal list of promises on Arnold's website, but there is a press release that seems to be headed in that direction.
12/29/03 update: for those of you who don't know, Ahnold is governor of Cali with no statement to this day what his issues or plans are
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