I was working on my book yesterday (yes, mother, I am a workaholic – I’ll slow down), when Sheryl yelled out to me, “You’ve got to see this!” I rushed into the kitchen where we political junkies keep a small set, perpetually tuned to the news channels. Sheryl was pointing to a very horsey-looking, unmade up Maria Shriver who was addressing a cheering crowd of Obama fanatics at UCLA. “She’s backing Obama!” I stared at the screen. Sure enough, that’s what was happening. “I thought, if Barack Obama was a state, he’d be California,” Maria was saying. “Diverse. Open. Smart. Independent. Bucks tradition. Innovative. Inspirational. Dreamer. Leader.”
She had joined the Cult of Barack – and apparently without consulting her husband! (Shriver admitted she had just decided on the spur of the moment and rushed right over, hence the lack of makeup on the experienced broadcaster’s face.)
What to make of this? Arnold, as the world knows, had just endorsed McCain. Was she throwing a monkey wrench into their marriage or was she just swept up in the power of the cult? (Maybe her husband later told her – next time pick someone insignificant, like Ron Paul or Scientology.)
And what does this mean? My esteemed PJM colleague Bill Bradley thinks it may have a (minor) negative effect on McCain’s California vote. Possibly. But what really is going on behind the scenes? Is Maria forming an alliance with the powerful House of Kennedy against the House of Clinton and her own House of Arnold? Bring back the Greeks. If we don’t have domestic tragedy, we may at least have some serious melodrama. Arnold and Maria may have to consult Carville and Maitlin for dinner table tips to preserve the domestic tranquility. (And speaking of Paul, Aristophanes is rumored to be working on a sequel to The Clouds, about Ron and his supporters.)
Roger, this is a mountain out of a mole hill. This adds nothing to the fact known by all going in, including us bystanders, that theirs is “a house divided”.
Obviously they long ago decided that politics was not going to get between them.
If anything, it buttresses *both* of their “independent-minded” credentials.
Payback time for Maria.
http://tinyurl.com/ytf97e
More likely it’s payback for Arnold’s private life.
Roger –
I’m afraid you are reading way too much into Maria’s spur of the moment endorsement of Senator Obama. Just as a leopard can change her spots, Frau Schwarzenegger is the senior woman in her generation of Clan Kennedy. When Teddy (aka “The Kennedy” or “himself” made his endorsement following his niece Caroline , Maria stayed loyal to the Clan, it was all but certain that she would follow. That’s how it works among the Irish.)
Arnold and Maria have always made their political loyalties plain and this should surprise no one. It in no way indicates a fault line politically or personally for California’s First Couple. It is the way things are and always have been. James Carville and Mary Maitlan are a long married couple whose politics are not part of the deal, Laura Ingram might not vote one of them, but apparently favors Democrats as boy friends. Alan Combs is a Professional Liberal Democrat while his wife is alleged to be Republican. If you spent any time on Capitol Hill you would amazed at the number of couples that straddle the aisle — dating, cohabiting and married. Many GOP women favor Democrat guys and visa versa. Many Democrat women favor GOP guys. Go figure. If you recall the series “West Wing,” the perky blond assistant was like a magnet for Republican staffers and lobbyists.
Even the Bush’s follow this, Laura Bush’s family were and remain “yellow dog” Texas Democrats. If you noticed that in interviews Laura frequently is seated with the official portrait of Lady Bird Johnson on the wall behind her — that is not an accident.
Johnny Cabral
Next thing you know James Carville and his wife will be supporting different candidates.
Why in the world should we care what any of these people think, say, or do? Because they have more money, are recognized on the street, or have some other dubious credential I should pay attention to them? Not a chance, I prefer to think for myself.
“Cult of Barack”
That’s pretty well explains this strange phenomenon. These supporters of Barack Obama seem to be motivated by anti-intellectual emotionalism. Facts seem to only to get in the way. Feelings are all that matter. Obama is becoming something a Rorschach test. The Illinois U.S. senator is whatever they want him to be. They are turning Obama into another Messiah.
“Diverse. Open. Smart. Independent. Bucks tradition. Innovative. Inspirational. Dreamer. Leader”…ie, she endorses her candidate by rattling out a string of catch-words and catch-phrases, rather than by making a logical argument. See my post Dog Language and Political Language.
There’s no “Alliance with the House of Kennedy”. Maria Shriver IS a Kennedy. Arnold knew that when he married her.
She said several times it was about moments, conversations, and “following her own truth”.
Now just what in the hell that’s supposed to mean, I have no idea. They didn’t teach Psychobabble at that cow college I graduated from.
I don’t know, Roger. My wife and I haven’t agreed on candidates lately, although we’re both fans of McCain this time around. My parents had a politically mixed marriage, and her parents have a politically mixed marriage. It happens all the time, and is unavoidable with the gender gap. Women are more liberal than men, on average. I don’t think there’s much to see here.
“if Obama were a state, he’d be California”
Well, I’m sure Maria is oblivious to the fact that the rest of the country thinks that, as a state, California is repressive, abrogates civil rights in the name of political correctness and wrong-headed environmental pursuits, wastes water and power while at the same time hypocritically polluting more than all of the Western states put together, is self-righteous and smug about all this and is best personified by the wackos in Berkeley who bash Marines or the CA legislature who wants to control your thermostat.
If you’re a non-Californian, you’d basically translate Shriver as saying Obama is a fucking asshole.
I don’t know that I would have expressed it quite the same way, docweasel, but yes, I think you have distilled the essence of it all.
She’s a little thick, but has a nice rack on her:
http://docweasel.wordpress.com/2008/02/05/maria-shriver-calls-obama-an-asshole/
(wet bathing suit Maria, Semi-NSFW)
“And speaking of Paul, Aristophanes is rumored to be working on a sequel to The Clouds, about Ron and his supporters.”
For Ron Paul & his ilk, I think a sequal to Aristophanes’ The Birds would be more appropriate. They’ve proven themselves the leading citizens of CloudCuckooLand.
- CMC