A comfortable victory, but a lot of promises to keep "For the people to win, politics-as-usual must lose." As California's voters on October 7th swept dreary Gray Davis from the governor's office, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Austrian-born bodybuilder turned American movie-star, had a pithy slogan to celebrate his instant ascent to the pinnacle of Californian political power. Adoring supporters cheered their hero, and a swarm of Kennedys-the governor-elect is married to JFK'S niece, Maria Shriver-was on stage to embrace him. Congratulatory phone calls were soon to come from President George Bush and even Nelson Mandela. So much for the immediate glow of victory. But in the aftermath of the first recall election in the state's history, the question is whether Mr Schwarzenegger's slogan has any staying power. The new governor is a Republican in a state where all other elective offices are held by Democrats. Of the state's 40 senators, 25 are Democrats; of the 80 assemblymen, 48 are Democrats. Politics as usual could easily mean an ineffectual governor, immobilised in his efforts to pass a state budget that he must present to the lawmakers on January loth and embarrassed by his campaign pledge to lower car taxes while not raising others (for which, in any case, a two-thirds "super majority" is needed).
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