(cross-posted on my new blog Ruck Pad)

Arnold Schwarzenegger has never been mistaken for a wonky politician.  He is much more interested in the accolades that come with victory rather than the minutia of policy.  Newly elected Assemblyman Mark Wyland visited the SDUT editorial board today and this is from their blog.  (h/t to Shane)

Wyland said he thought Schwarzenegger had handled the challenges he faces as a Republican governor confronted with a Legislature controlled by liberal Democrats “reasonably artfully.” But on the question of whether Arnold is really a reformer at heart, Wyland appeared skeptical.

“He does not really have an in-depth interest in policy. … He loves marketing.”

Sharp point. Arnold associates himself with big, bold ideas and cultivates, in his own way, the image of muscle-man intellectual, highlighting his friendships with such folks as Milton Friedman, George Schultz, Warren Buffett, etc. But ultimately he’s much more interested in winning or being perceived as a winner than anything else.

It is all about Arnold and the attention he gets.  How a policy actually works and the good it does for Californians is secondary.  In 2005 he thought the path to attention was going directly to the voting public.  The ideas mattered less than Arnold appearing as the hero, doing an end around the dolts in the legislature.  He was wrong.

This year he found his way back to national and international attention by charting a moderate left tact.  He would do just about anything to strike a deal.  Rather than stonewalling him to make it easier to defeat him for re-election the Democratic dominated legislature grinned and started sending him legislation.  He seems to be headed for that same path this year.  John Meyers:

Schwarzenegger’s core philosophy is “shared responsibility” for the costs– including citizens, employers, and insurers… covering all of the estimated 6 million Californians without insurance is a “goal” and not necessarily a requirement (a point on which the governor has made somewhat conflicting public statements)… administration officials are now meeting with “hundreds” of stakeholders to solicit input… and no decision has been made as to whether the governor will actually push a specific plan, or rather task legislators with the overall goal of expanding health coverage.

That last point is worth noting. Mendelsohn, the governor’s communications director, said that Schwarzenegger sees this year’s negotiations on infrastructure bonds as a “model” that can be used in the 2007 health care debate. Of course, much of the bond deal was struck by Democratic and Republican legislative leaders on their own, sans the governor. It’s unclear whether the two sides can do the same on an issue like health care, one that has bedeviled lawmakers on both the state and federal level for decades.

(Notice that Meyers picks up on the point I made yesterday about coverage “goals”.)

If I had to bet, I see Arnold issuing a broad outline of a proposal, but not actually submitting health care legislation.  He will leave it up to the legislature to craft a bill, but make very clear what things (like a universal coverage plan based on Medicare) are non-starters. 

Then he will try and use his political capitol to get Republicans to not be the “no” party.  That will be difficult.  The Republicans are hunkering down, not wanting to be made irrelevant.  They have elected a guy they feel will not be Arnold’s patsy.  Will he get them to play ball?  What do you think?