Since I devoted the last ten days to whining and caterwauling about Der Arnold, urging him–begging him–to take a few positions that could be at least loosely described as Republican, it seems only fair to note that I thought his press conference yesterday was mighty impressive. If you missed his performance, here’s Schwarzenegger on the two critical issues in this campaign:

On taxes:

“I feel the people of California have been punished enough. From the time they get up in the morning and flush the toilet they’re taxed. When they go get a coffee they’re taxed. When they get in their car they’re taxed. When they go to the gas station they’re taxed. When they go to lunch they’re taxed. This goes on all day long. Tax. Tax. Tax. Tax. Tax.”

On spending:

“Before you promise anything to anyone right now, I think stop. Stop, stop, stop with the spending.”

Schwarzenegger went on to argue for a constitutional amendment that would cap state spending along the lines of the amendment that then-Governor Reagan proposed back in 1973.

The most important parallel between Schwarzenegger and Reagan? That’s still developing.

When Reagan was elected president in 1980, there was no consensus on what should be done-but there was a consensus that something had to be done. As I argue in a href=”http://www.nationalreview.com/redirect/amazon.asp?j=0060523999″>How Ronald Reagan Changed My Life, Reagan recognized that this consensus, this willingness to consider dramatic changes in policy, presented him with an enormous opportunity-and he seized it. Likewise California today. As 10 Californians how to fix the state and you’ll get ten different answers. Ask them if the state needs fixing and every last one of them will stare at you in blank disbelief that you even had to ask. Will Schwarzenegger seize this opportunity? That press conference yesterday wasn’t a bad start.

Fellow conservative Californians, what did you think? Did Arnold win you over? Feel free to send me an email-and be sure to place “Arnold” in the subject line. I’m count up the pros and cons and post the results tomorrow.