*FRIEDMAN FOR ARNOLD: Nobel Laureate Milton Friedman of Stanford University's Hoover Institution told HUMAN EVENTS' John Gizzi on August 21 that he would be endorsing Arnold Schwarzenegger for governor of California. "My impression is that he is fundamentally a small- government libertarian, although that is belied to some extent by the proposition he got through last year [providing tax dollars for after-school programs]," said Friedman. He added that he and wife Rose were "favorably impressed" with Schwarzenegger when they met over dinner and discussed the free market more than twenty years ago.
*NO NEW TAXES? When asked about Schwarzenegger's refusal to flatly rule out raising taxes, Friedman said "it's foolish for anyone to rule out anything under any circumstances. I didn't trust [the elder] George Bush when he said 'no more taxes' in 1988." But Friedman added that Schwarzenegger "should not have said education should not be on the table" when he discussed budget cutting. Asked about the influence of Schwarzenegger adviser Warren Buffett (who opposes tax cuts and most of the things Friedman stands for), the economist responded that Schwarzenegger was "a tough individual who won't be influenced by Mr. Buffett." Friedman also disputed the assertion that Buffett disagreed with him on everything, quipping: "I stand for making money and at least he's done that!"
*CALIFORNIA'S CLINTON: The San Francisco Chronicle reported last week that impeached former President Bill Clinton has been advising Democratic Gov. Gray Davis on how Davis can survive the special recall election scheduled for October 7. "The Clinton strategy is clear," Bruce Cain, director of U.C. Berkeley's Institute of Governmental Studies, told the paper. "They're trying to get the forces marshaled to make it Democrats vs. Republicans." In fact, in a televised August 19 speech at the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA), Davis sounded as if he had been talking to Hillary, rather than Bill, Clinton. His theme: the vast right-wing conspiracy has returned.
*IT STARTED WITH IMPEACHMENT: Sweeping aside the facts that recall elections are authorized under the California constitution, that more than a million Californians signed legal petitions demanding that the October 7 election take place, and that a majority must now vote for his recall for him to be removed, a somewhat paranoid-sounding Davis painted the effort as a backroom Republican plot.
"What's happening here is part of an ongoing national effort to steal elections Republicans cannot win," Davis told the partisan crowd at UCLA. "It started with the impeachment of President Clinton when the Republicans could not beat him in 1996. It continued in Florida where they stopped the vote count, depriving thousands of Americans of the right to vote. . . . Now they're trying to use this recall to seize control of California just before the next presidential election."
*GONER: A Field Poll of 448 likely California voters indicated that 58% said they would vote to recall Gov. Davis. Only 38% said they would vote not to recall Davis, while 5% said they did not know. Twenty-two per cent said that they approved of the way Davis was doing his job; 70% said they disapproved. Sixty-eight per cent predicted Davis would be removed from office.
*DEAD HEAT: The same Field Poll, which had a margin of error of +/-4.4%, showed Democratic Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante and Republican actor Arnold Schwarzenegger in a dead heat to replace Gov. Davis. Bustamante polled 25%, Schwarzenegger 22%. They were followed by conservative Republican State Sen. Tom McClintock, 9%; and conservative businessman Bill Simon, 8%.
*COURTING CONTROVERSY: The U.S. Supreme Court last week refused a request from Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore to stay an order from a federal judge that directed Moore to remove from the Alabama Supreme Court building a monument inscribed with the Ten Commandments.
Meanwhile, in a Mobile Register poll, 77% of Alabamians said they "strongly approve" or "approve" of the monument and Moore's appeal to the Supreme Court. Fifty per cent said they would disapprove Moore's defying a court order; 40% said they would approve. Fifty-five per cent said they would "most likely" vote for Moore if he ever ran for governor.
