Once again I’ve caught a columnist, in my town paper of all places, blasting Arnold Schwarzenegger (search) for running for governor of California.
"Please tell me the experience he has to run the largest, most important state in the country," he asked.
As if any of that mattered. If experience was such an asset, why is California such a mess? The list of career politicians and bureaucratic brainiacs running the state reads like a who's who of this country's finest colleges and universities. But newsflash: the state is a mess.
All that experience, all that education, all that pedigree background and this is what you've got to show for it? Please.
I say, expand the gene pool. If it includes an actor, a stripper, a comic and even a smut publisher, so be it.
Some fear they just debase the process. Please again. Take a look what's happened to the process already: Pristine management didn't create this zoo, bureaucratic baboons did.
As soon as you catch some condescending, holier-than-thou political hack sniffing at the candidates, sniff back and show him the figures: a state with the highest deficit, the screwiest pricey social programs and the worst schools.
An actor didn't create this mess. A stripper didn't degrade this state. And a comic didn't trivialize this economy. Seasoned pros did. The same seasoned pros that insist they know what's best, but have instead shown a state hungry for leadership, only the worst.
This same columnist blasts Arnold for announcing his candidacy on Jay Leno and not Meet the Press. I say Arnold has it right. The same old venues have created the same old stale retreads. Sometimes you have to laugh to lead. And I'll tell you what: I'd much rather have a guy get laughs on a show where it's intended, than supposedly serving me in government, where it's not.
You pros think an actor's got no assets? Better that than some pumped up paper pusher who's just a pain in the assets.
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