Readers ask if anything about the recall campaign has surprised me, and I have to say yes. I'm a little surprised that, from the start, Arnold Schwarzenegger has followed my advice almost to the letter.
For instance, I told Arnold to avoid serious issues and let his celebrity get him elected, and he has.
I told him to stick with friendly talk show hosts like Larry King, and he has, taking it one step further with his appearance on Oprah Winfrey.
OPRAH: Are you, like, getting a crash course in government?
ARNOLD: Oh, that's exactly what it is. I mean, you know, there's a lot of things to ...
OPRAH: Really? Like, are they at your house to -- teaching you stuff every night?
ARNOLD: Oh ... (unintelligible). It's from morning ...
OPRAH: Really?
On the strength of such repartee, along with round-the-clock tutoring, Arnold may be governor when you wake up a week from Wednesday. I thought I'd continue helping him out by writing press releases for his first days in office.
Oct. 8
GOVERNOR'S TEAM IN PLACE
Gov. Schwarzenegger today appointed a 70-member "Terminate the Deficit Council," and a 150-member "What Now? Team," which will be chaired by Tom Selleck.
"Rob Lowe did a terrific job in the campaign, and now he passes the torch," Gov. Schwarzenegger said in naming Selleck, best-known as television's Magnum, P.I.
Oct. 9
GOVERNOR DEFENDS REMARKS
Gov. Schwarzenegger today explained comments he made at his inaugural gala.
"What I said was, 'Whoever says they don't have any hot babes in Sacramento doesn't know what they're talking about.' It's just an outrageous thing I said at the time."
INAUGURAL REMARKS UPDATE
Gov. Schwarzenegger further clarified comments he made at his inaugural gala.
"If I said 'hot babes,' it was just my way of pumping up Sacramento."
FINAL UPDATE
As he explained this evening on Larry King, Gov. Schwarzenegger's controversial comments at his inaugural were misunderstood. He told the talk show host that he meant "haute babes."
Oct. 10
KEY JUDICIAL APPOINTMENT
Gov. Schwarzenegger today announced the appointment of Judge Judy to the California Supreme Court.
"Watching her show all these years, I couldn't wait to make this appointment. Judge Judy knows about the big cases, the little cases, all that stuff."
JUDICIAL APPOINTMENT UPDATE
