So, it would appear that Arnold has won, and Davis is history. There have been predictions of legal challenges and more stalling by the powers that be, but the margin of victory might be large enough to quell such attempts to subvert California's constitutional gubernatorial election. As for the results, I am personally a bit worried for California about having Arnold in there. While he may have an (R) by his name, Schwarzenegger is certainly no conservative.

From the beginning, I've felt that California should take one of two approaches. The first approach would be to tough it out with Gray Davis. It was Gray that got them into this mess, and perhaps they should have had more time to live with the consequences of their choice. The second approach would be to bring in a conservative like McClintock who, right or wrong, would take the state in a different direction as far as policies go. Liberals and Conservatives can argue back and forth which be the better choice, but both should agree that the two are polar opposites.

Arnold, however, is more of a compromise vote, which probably explains his success. Unfortunately however, compromise typically doesn't make either side happy, and often doesn't solve any problems. As a conservative, I would be remiss to sell out my principles like the Democrats and Republicans have done in the Golden State. To me, Arnold is too much like Davis, and will not be very successful. Given that he will likely face a very bitter and devided legislature, he may not have much of a chance to be a very effective policy maker either.

Perhaps I'm being overly pessimistic, but an idiot is defined as someone who does the same thing and expects a different result. I think the California voters may just have done something very idiotic.