California's voters send a message

California's recall election has sent several messages, although not all of them are crystal clear. One message is that voters in our country's richest, most populous state are so weary of political ineptitude that they'd rather have as governor a political neophyte than another career politician. It was, after all, career politicians who got California into its current mess.

Mock it if you will, but Arnold Schwarzenegger is now governor of California. Californians apparently don't find their choice to be funny or odd.

In the weeks leading up to Tuesday's special recall election, it was frequently suggested that a recall wasn't necessary for a governor who had just been re-elected 10 months before.

Nothing could have been further from the opinion of a majority of voting Californians. When the votes were tallied, almost 55 percent wanted Gov. Gray Davis tossed out.

It was also said that, with such a crowded field of candidates, a new governor might win with fewer than 5 percent of the votes. Again, the numbers didn't bear that out. Schwarzenegger won with 48 percent -- and 1.2 million more votes than his nearest competitor, Democratic Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante.

It wasn't strictly a partisan GOP election either. Many Democrats also voted for Schwarzenegger, who ran as a Republican. Voters of all political persuasions and social status took the opportunity to vote for someone who hasn't made a career out of winning elections and attending fund raisers.

Who can blame them? Look at what career politicians have produced: a projected $8 billion deficit, special-interest favoritism and sky-high taxes.

Voters are fed up and rightly so. Who hasn't, in one election or another, wanted an opportunity to vote for "None of the above." In California's case, Schwarzenegger was a logical choice for voters fed up with politics as usual.

Now, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger faces challenges tougher than any time-traveling movie monster. He is to be sworn in later this month and will serve out the remaining three years of Davis' term.

There are tough decisions to be made during those three years -- decisions that will be crucial for determining the state's future. Most of those issues were touched upon, but not seriously examined, in the campaign.

Schwarzenegger will have to work hard -- dealing with a Democratic legislature -- to address the budget deficit, the so-called car tax and driver's licenses for illegal aliens, to name a few. Schwarzenegger was vague on a lot of points during the campaign. Now he needs to be specific.

The recall also should serve as a reminder to California's new governor. If he fails, there is no job security. He cannot take his tasks lightly.

Most of all, Schwarzenegger should remember this: There is no Hollywood script for political success, and the heavy lifting for the former body builder must now take the form of working hard for his constituents.