Looks like Arnie will be the next governor of California.
I’ve been kind of mildly amused by the entire recall thing. I think this is due to growing up with British Columbian politics, which has a brand of silliness unlike any other place I’ve been to; so electing movie actors as governor just doesn’t seem like a big deal.
Among other things, BC is the only province in Canada with recall legislation, and we’ve already tried to exercise it many times (although I think only on MLAs, and all attempts have failed).
Then there are our glorious premiers. The first premier that I remember well, Bill Vander Zalm, resigned over a conflict of interest scandal involving a biblical theme park once owned by him and his wife, “Headband” Lillian. (Fun fact: I was playing piano in Delta Youth Orchestra at “Fantasy Gardens” on the day that it opened.)
His successor, Mike Harcourt, resigned over “Bingogate”: a scandal involving charity bingo funds being diverted to his political party.
Glen Clark (whom I shook hands with once) stepped down over a conflict of interest: he awarded a casino license to his neighbour in return for cottage renovations.
I was in California for the next two premiers (Dan Miller and Ujjah Dosanjh), and missed any news about their terms in office. In any event I don’t think they were noteworthy (although I think Dosajnh was the first non-white to ever serve as a premier in Canada). I definitely noticed when the current premier, Gordon Campbell, took office. Campbell was the mayor of Vancouver for a while when I was around. His most noteworthy accomplishments to date have included being arrested for drunk driving in Hawaii over this last Christmas, and (along with his “Liberal” party) destroying what little remains of the social safety net that exists in BC.
Politics is fun, especially if you don’t live in the states or provinces involved.
