Ah-nuld On The Hot Seat

In the following excerpt from his appearance on Hugh Hewitt's radio program yesterday, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger was asked a very simply, straightforward question: will you pick another conservative to replace now-U.S. First Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Janice Rogers Brown on the California Supreme Court?

The Governator's response was very telling:

HH: Will you be appointing the new Justice on the California Supreme Court before the election?

AS: I don't think it will be before the election, but I mean...

HH: Are conservatives going to be happy, Governor?

AS: We are right now going through the process, and it is, as you know, it's always very important that we appoint the right person, the most competent person, the person that really has skills and experience.

HH: But it's got to be a conservative. I mean, Janice Rogers Brown was the most conservative member of that court, and if you come in with a moderate, aren't the conservatives going to sit on their hands for you, Governor, next year?

AS: You can count on it that we will do the right...we will pick the right choice, and that we will do the right replacement.

I don't think Ah-nuld squirmed that much when he got pregnant in Junior. You'd think if he were committed to throwing a bone to the conservative base that got him elected - a very sound idea if he intends to run for re-election next year - he would have at least indicated a willingness to consider a conservative nominee, even if he didn't want to get specific about which one (Hugh suggests former Congressman James Rogan as a no-brainer choice). But he wouldn't even acknowledge the jist of the question. Even substituting "a" for "the" in the phrase "We will pick the right choice" would have been an improvement.

Sounds to me, particularly in light of how he's gotten worn down by the dominant Democrat opposition in Sacramento this year, that Ah-nuld is angling toward avoiding yet another pitched political battle by opting for a squish instead - which Double-H aptly characterizes as "a disaster."

Of course, he hasn't said yet whether he's seeking a full term of his own, either. If he's going back to Hollywood in 2007, why would he care if he went down in Gollyfornia political history as "The Last Action Governor"?

Sure would give a ton of "I told you so"'s to the McClintock brigades....

UPDATE: Um...okay, the D.C. Circuit. But I'm positive Ah-nuld will do the right thing for Colorado....