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
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