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Dan Walters makes a hell of a lot of sense about the real reason why the Governor is pushing this plan to move up the California primary. He seems to think it has nothing to do with the primary itself, but about the other proposal being tossed about for that February 2008 ballot.
Schwarzenegger could legally seek a third term only if the term limits were to be modified, and lo and behold, he and legislators are talking about doing exactly that. While the public discussion of changing term limits has centered on legislators, there's no particular reason why loosening the limits on constitutional officers couldn't be part of any deal.
I think that Arnold's outsized ego just makes him want to be in the thick of the Presidential race, but this is an absolute side effect. You can bet that if the term limits change for the legislators, they'll similarly change for the constitutional officers, and we won't get the opportunity to pick one but not the other. It'll all get tied up in one big redistricting/term limit ball.
Plus, this would give Republicans in the Congress until 2014 to amend the Constitution to allow foreign-born citizens to ascend to the Oval Office. And I don't see Arnold wanting to be anywhere else but the Governor's mansion or the White House.
Walters ends the piece by calling this idea "possible but not probable," but I think he convinced me that it's actually likely. Are you all ready for 8 more years of math-challenged budgets and more attempts to break up unions and universal health care plans that aren't universal or even health care?
Well, enjoy getting to see part of Barack Obama's head at some rally in late January! That seems like a fair trade-off!
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