Recall debate in the golden state

I can’t help but comment that it is certainly not headline news that

Arnold Schwarzenegger gained with local debate watchers when you go

to his local headquarters, take the pulse of the people and also to a

meeting in Newport Beach. You probably were at the Arches restaurant,

which has Arnold signs outside -- that would not be a surprise.

I watched the debates. I thought that people were rude and that

the debate leader, Stan Statham, was inept. What the debate showed me

is that I am already happy to have cast my vote and mailed my ballot.

None of these people are any more qualified to be governor than the

person who is already there.

The problem with this state is that the income declined because of

the dot-com decline and the general malaise in the nation. We are

just one of 47 other states that have financial problems. It’s sad

that we are wasting $67 to $70 million on this carnival that could go

to help in some other area. So I don’t think that story warranted a

headline “Arnold gains ... .” It was the public that gained by seeing

those people in that charade.

SHARON BOUDREAU

Costa Mesa

In the early 1900s, I was born into a Democratic family. I have

served the Democratic party well, as evidenced by my being anointed

Democrat of the Year in Ventura County for a half dozen years.

I believe in the virtues of the Democratic party, but I was

disappointed in presidential candidate George McGovern, President

Jimmy Carter and by all the Democratic presidential candidates except

Joe Lieberman. Lieberman won’t get the nomination, just as Sen. John

McCain stood no chance in the Republican run-off. But this is how our

two-party system operates.

Then I got disenfranchised by Gov. Gray Davis being anointed and

elected for a second term by a solid Democratic majority that was

really voting against Bill Simon, not for Davis. Now I am

disappointed by Diane Feinstein, who I always admired, because she is

toeing the party line and supporting Davis -- a totally incompetent

governor.

In my quest for America’s and California’s survival, I must

support President Bush in his re-election bid to free America of

world terrorism and Tom McClintock’s bid to be California’s next

governor. McClintock’s record of 25 years in the California

legislature verifies his ability to trim the dead wood out of

Sacramento, balance the budget and create jobs.

ROBERT A. FELBURG

Costa Mesa

The recent publication of “Reagan: A Life in Letters” serves two

important purposes: First, it poignantly reminds us how influential

the former president was; and second, it underscores the impact he

still has on our lives today. If it hadn’t been for Ronald Reagan,

some argue, George W. Bush still would be living in Texas.

Reagan’s letters are, like their author, quintessential American.

They are upbeat, optimistic and curious about the future. It doesn’t

seem to matter if one’s written to a head of state or a

seventh-grader. They all have a point Reagan wishes to make. With

this thought in mind, one wonders what the “Great Communicator” would

say about the upcoming recall election in his beloved California?

More to the point, we wonder which Republican candidate -- Arnold

Schwarzenegger or Tom McClintock -- Reagan would endorse? Not that he

actually can now, what with his advanced Alzheimer’s disease, but in

theory, to which of these two self-avowed conservatives would the

Gipper pen a letter?

Both Schwarzenegger and McClintock have wrapped themselves in the

Reagan mystique. To their credit, each has received endorsements from

organizations that typically supported the former president (and

governor) at the drop of a hat. Each would have voters believe that

he, not the other guy, is the rightful heir to the Reagan legacy, no

pun intended.

We’re not savvy enough to know which of the two contenders is the

true blue conservative worthy of a Reagan endorsement. We are smart

enough to know that a letter from Reagan -- even if it turned out to

be from Nancy -- would mean Christmas had arrived early for one of

them!

Better than a slap on the back from Howard Jarvis himself, a

Reagan endorsement is the political equivalent of the Good

Housekeeping Seal of Approval. That’s because Reagan’s reach is both

wide and deep. His endorsement would mean something to young

Republicans who remember him when they were in grade school. It also

would mean something to GOP baby boomers and seniors -- all of whom

equate the 1980 Reagan slogan “Morning in America” with the second

coming of you-know-who.

Like the ACLU attorneys appearing before the 9th Circuit Court of

Appeals, you can argue the merits of the recall till the cows come

home. The fact is there’s going to be an election soon. Since all the

polls show Schwarzenegger and McClintock splitting the Republican

vote, conservatives have to be praying one of them sobers up soon and

makes way for the other.

A letter from the Reagan camp would clear things up rather

quickly, don’t you think? A letter from Ronald Reagan also would

remind us, one last time, just how far his influence stretches. From

California in the 1960s to Washington in the 1980s and back home

again today, it would be clear the Great Communicator still is in

command.

DENNY FREIDENRICH

AND PAUL FREEMAN

Laguna Beach

* EDITOR’S NOTE: Freeman is arguably best known in the Costa Mesa

community as the spokesman for developer C.J. Segerstrom & Sons.

Freidenrich is his business partner at First Strategies LLC in Laguna

Beach.