Angelides will cater to California

We all remember the recall election of 2003. Then-Gov. Gray Davis, re-elected just one year earlier, had become very unpopular, weighed down by an energy crisis and obstructionist Republicans in state government. In a historic recall election, he was swept out of office by an angry California electorate.

In came Arnold Schwarzenegger, who rose to power with the promise of a new kind of bipartisan politics. Three years later, we can see that Schwarzenegger has abandoned that promise. He has sold out the people of California and it is time for him to go.

Take immigration, for example. In 2005, the governor went on the record praising the Minutemen, the vigilante group patrolling the Mexican-American border with shotguns. Realizing how unpopular his comments were, he quickly changed his mind and backed away from the group.

His stance on gay marriage tells a similar story. He has said all along that he supports full and equal rights for gays and lesbians, yet when given the opportunity to give them marriage equality, he vetoed the bill.

It’s not hard to understand Schwarzenegger’s game. He wants to be re-elected, which requires him to appear to be moderate. At the same time, he is beholden to the far right within the Republican Party.

Perhaps nothing illustrates this better than his special-election debacle of last year. He thought his bipartisan popularity and movie-star image would allow him to attack education, along with the teachers, firefighters and nurses of our state.

About the only promise

Schwarzenegger can say he’s kept is his steadfast refusal to raise taxes, even on the richest of the rich. This foolish adherence to the Republican anti-tax dogma has had dire consequences.

Schwarzenegger’s tuition hikes have taken thousands of dollars from the pockets of UCLA students. Instead of asking the wealthy to pay their fair share, he has turned to college students and working-class families.

Schwarzenegger’s re-election campaign this year reminds me of a bad rerun movie. Just like in 2003, the Terminator is on TV, doing his best impression of a Democrat. But we know how the movie will end – we have already seen what will happen once he is actually elected.

It is time for a new governor, one who will stand up for the people of California; who will give tax cuts to the middle class and ask the rich to pay their fair share; who will roll back our ridiculous tuition hikes.

It is time for Phil Angelides.

Rose is president of Bruin Democrats. He is a third-year political science and communication studies student.