I hope Arianna had some flowers waiting for her this morning, because she did all the dirty work for Bustamante and McClintock. By continuously attacking Schwarzenegger, she left the other two major candidates free to discuss the issues and keep their hands clean. Here was my favorite exchange of the evening :

Huffington: Your analysis fits perfectly the Bush administration in Washington

Schwarzenegger: If you want to campaign against Bush, go to New Hampshire. It’s the proper place for you. You’re in the wrong state right now

Huffington: The people of California need somebody who is going to fight the Bush administration for them There’s a huge connection between our budgetary problems here and the decisions made in Washington It’s completely hypocritical of Arnold (Schwarzenegger starts to interrupt.) Let me finish. Let me finish. This is completely impolite, the way you treat women. We know that

Schwarzenegger: I would just like to say that I just realized that I have a perfect part for you in “Terminator 4.”

Ahhh…a reference to Arnold’s infamous boast about shoving a woman’s head into a toilet bowl. How hilarious! With a sense of humor that sharp, Arnold should feel right at home with fellow Republicans Bill “I woulda put a bullet right between his head” O’Reilly and Ann “My only regret with Timothy McVeigh is he did not go to the New York Times Building” Coulter.

Declaring a winner in something like a debate is a little tricky. If there was a winner, I think it would be a tossup between Camejo and McClintock, since they were both able to calmly explain their positions and keep themselves out of the fighting that marked the entire debate. On the other end of the spectrum, Arnold’s performance was the kind of meaningless pandering I haven’t seen in a debate since George W. Bush in 2000. Based on this CNN poll, it looks like my views aren’t indicative of those of the general public :

Is the rest of the world smoking crack or did I just see a different debate? I suspect that Arnold set everyone’s expectations so low that his ability to form simple sentences like “You guys have an addiction problem. You should go to an addiction place.” was enough to impress people into voting for him.

The real shame is that Bustamante, who’s naturally a soft-spoken and slow speaker, has been labeled condescending and pandering. I don’t think this is necessarily the case, but if 54% of Californians think Arnold won last night’s debate, then maybe they do need to be treated like children.