The Arnold Schwarzenegger heady Terminator as state reformer-rescuer was a classic case of "California dreamin'" trumping reality.

Shortly after Schwarzenegger announced as the candidate for change, following the myth pattern of Ronald Reagan as citizen politician, the Los Angeles Times referred to a discussion at a California Department of Employment office in Indio, a Southern California dessert town just east of Palm Springs.

A discussion had developed in a line concerning the upcoming recall election involving Governor Gray Davis.  A truck driver chortled that he could hardly wait to see the Terminator as governor "kick ass" the first time the California Legislature gave him trouble.

The subject of great concern at the time to so many citizens, and what drove such high octane rage against Governor Davis, was a car tax for which he was being blamed.  In reality, Davis had not been responsible for the car tax legislation's passage.