So Schwarzenegger went from sexual harassment allegations as he entered office to a sex scandal on his way out of office. There's a neat symmetry to it all, especially when you consider that while he was governor, all of California got screwed.
The man who was against borrowing broke borrowing records.
The man who said he didn't need to raise campaign donations raised more than anyone.
The man who replaced a governor with a 22% popularity rating ended up matching that all-time low.
The man who promised to balance the budget left office with record deficits.
You can blame some of that on Schwarzenegger, some on the Legislature, and some on voters who were swept up by the action hero antics of Schwarzenegger the candidate, a man who now confesses in the book that he had no idea what he was doing. After appearing on Jay Leno to announce that he was running, a decision that was news to his wife, Schwarzenegger writes that he got a call from Matt Lauer of "The Today Show."
"As he pressed me for specifics on how I would bring back the California economy and when I would release my tax returns, I realized I was unprepared," Schwarzenegger writes. "Unable to answer, I finally had to resort to the old Groucho Marx stunt of pretending the connection was bad. 'Say again?' I put a hand to my earpiece. 'I didn't hear you.'"
None of this surprises Garry South, Gray Davis' campaign manager.
"It's all just another movie to him," said South, whose diagnosis is that Schwarzenegger has always been defined, pure and simple, by the narcissism that drives an international body-building champion.
That — and an unlimited supply of hubris — may also be what drives a man to end his book with a chapter called "Arnold's Rules," a section that contains such wisdom as, "Don't overthink," "Change takes big balls," and "When someone tells you no, you should hear yes."
Unless she's the housekeeper.
