Arnold captures Newport-Mesa’s attention

Yes, I was surprised at the financial backing for Arnold

Schwarzenegger. I think that he is totally not qualified to be our

governor. I’m kind of surprised at all this support for him and I’m

voting no on the recall.

ROBERTA RAY

Costa Mesa

I’m hardly surprised [by the funding amounts for Arnold

Schwarzenegger] in a Republican hotbed.

JACK SAENZ

Costa Mesa

I want to protest all the free publicity the Pilot and other media

are giving to Arnold (don’t call me) Schwarzenegger. Last week, the

Pilot ran front page stories two days in a row and on Sunday devoted

the question and answer column to his supporters. It was bad enough

that several TV channels are showing his movies all week. For a man

who has no constructive ideas on government he sure gets a lot of

free coverage.

SUSAN KENT

Costa Mesa

Go Arnold!

I am thankful that the recall election is on and I am confident

the best candidate will win the race for governor on Oct. 7 -- Arnold

Schwarzenegger. I am also confident that Schwarzenegger will keep his

word and personally see to it that more jobs become available.

There will be plenty of janitorial jobs available in Sacramento

and I am sure Arnold will personally offer Gov. Gray Davis the

position of head janitor to clean up much of the mess he created once

his governor title has vanished.

RUSSELL NIEWIAROWSKI

Santa Ana Heights

McClintock would make a good assistant to Arnold

Entry level workers in factories snicker that the managers of the

firms for which they work can’t operate lathes or drill presses.

Privates in armies snicker that the generals can’t drive the tanks or

fire the mortars or do any of the other things that these privates

can do so well.

Administrative assistants in offices usually can type, file,

answer the telephones, and do all the rest of the administrative work

much better than many chief executive officers.

So, why are the managers, the generals and the CEOs, in charge

instead of the factory workers, the privates and the administrative

assistants?

The answer is because “leadership” is its own type of work. It

requires abilities and talents that are different from the other

types of work indicated above.

A leader works on a larger scale and delegates authority to others

who are expert in various aspects of an organization. A good leader

knows how to inspire and draw good people to him and he knows how to

make good decisions. If a leader is really good, and all things are

equal, his organization and all the people in it will prosper or be

successful as they define those terms, while similar organizations

with poor leadership won’t prosper or be successful.

Gov. Gray Davis is a lousy leader of California. The effects of

his poor leadership are all around us. The state is sliding into

Third World status while this guy is at the helm and he doesn’t have

any idea of how to stop it. That’s why we’re having a recall

election.

Cruz Bustamante, who was a member of what critics say is an

anti-white, racist organization, Mecha, is part of the Davis

administration and would be a disaster for California and for

citizens of the state who are not brown.

Candidate Tom McClintock is a state senator who has some good bona

fides in the immigration reform and conservative communities. He’s

been in politics most of his adult life and seems reasonably

competent and on top of the issues. Because of his years in politics,

he knows how to talk to the press and he knows many details of

government. However, there is nothing to indicate that he is a

leader. In fact, he fails to inspire people beyond a certain vocal,

so-called conservative base.

This base constantly seems to promote candidates for office who

can’t get elected. Dan Lungren and Bill Simon come readily to mind.

The base pumps them up and makes a lot of noise. Come election, these

guys are defeated. Then, those who promoted these guys run around

saying, “we sure came close.” Well, close doesn’t count. California

doesn’t need any more “came close” conservative politicians. We need

winners even if they aren’t pure conservatives. McClintock can’t

break out of his base of 9% to 13% of the voters, and this means that

he can’t win.

Schwarzenegger is not a life-long politician. He’s a guy who has

shown leadership and ability in his personal life. He can win this

election, because his support is broader than McClintock’s. He

excites people beyond the base just as Ronald Reagan did. And, as

with Reagan, Schwarzenegger is apparently not a detail man, but is

one who delegates to others.

From where I sit, it appears that McClintock is a lathe and drill

press operator, a private, and an administration assistant and

Schwarzenegger is a manager, a general, and a CEO.

But, maybe I’m wrong. If Schwarzenegger is a leader, he should be

able to win this election, by doing whatever it takes. Lately,

however, his campaign doesn’t appear to be on the attack but is

taking a traipsing through the tulips approach to the election

similar to that used by Simon. If true, this is probably the result

of poor advice from those to whom Schwarzenegger has delegated

certain authority. And, if true, this ultimately reflects poorly on

Schwarzenegger who, of course, should be the leader -- if, in fact,

he has the right stuff to be a leader. And only if he understands

that a leader may always delegate authority, but he may never

delegate responsibility.

H. MILLARD

Costa Mesa