Last month I listed the five most controversial Republican Vice Presidential Candidates. I just thought of another, so here goes... hold onto your hats because this one's a doozy...

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger -- Senator McCain has a history of working across the aisle, as evidenced by the McCain-Feingold finance reform and McCain-Kennedy immigration bills. Picking a VP that also shows such a willingness to work across the aisle would be crucial to proving that his ticket is not looking for business as usual in Washington DC. Like Senator Obama, choosing a VP candidate like Arnold would show that he is in fact a candidate for change.

As Governor of California (an unquestionably red governor of a decidedly blue state), Schwarzenegger has broken down the divide between the aisles and has reached out to both sides of the state legislature. He has sweet talked and strong-armed Republicans and Democrats alike in pursuit of (what should be) everyone's goal of getting the best for Californians.

But wait a minute, I can hear you saying. What about that minor technicality called the US Constitution which specifically prohibits a foreign born citizen from seeking that position?

Well, there's that whole "constitutional amendment" thing that gets tossed around from time to time. Don't hold your breath on that one leading to a Schwarzenegger presidency -- it'd take way too long, and without a compelling candidate on the Democratic side to sway those voters I can see them dragging their feet if things started steamrolling. Besides, its' impossible to get that working in time for this fall's election, let alone the Republican convention.

There is a quick and dirty solution that's perfectly legal, though. With it, we could see a President Schwarzenegger in our lifetimes.

CNN reports:

"A new survey from CNN and the Opinion Research Corporation suggests Americans are nearly as pessimistic now about the state of the economy as they were in 1992 — the year Bill Clinton defeated then-President George H. W. Bush by running a campaign focused largely on America's economic woes."

According to the new poll, three-quarters of all Americans think the country is going through a recession, and a majority thinks it will last at least a year. Close to a quarter of Americans expect it to last more than two years."

OK, times are tough -- I totally agree on that one. There is an election coming up -- another agreement there too.

Here's where we diverge, though: the President is not the prime mover of the economy in this country, the Congress is.

Who writes the laws in the US? Congress. Who passes legislation that guides the regulatory bodies? Congress. Who authorizes money to be spent on various programs? Congress. (Sense a pattern here?) Oh, and who has done pretty much nothing since the present economic difficulties began? Guess who... yep, Congress. The President can stump and scold, suggest and cajole, but in the end it's Congress that passes laws.

So if the tone of this election mirrors the "It's the economy, stupid" theme of the 1992 election and the knee-jerk reaction is the throw the bums out, then shouldn't we be looking at tossing the Democrats out of Congress? Besides, if we examine the timelines, didn't this current economic slowdown coincide with the Democrats taking over Congress?

Hmmm.... 

Richard Nixon had it when he first ran against JFK. Thomas Dewey had it back in the 40's. Al Gore was so overflowing with it that he refused the help of a two-time incumbent. More recently, Hillary Clinton had much more of it in the early primary season than anyone else.

So what is it... Money? Power? Media attention?

Nope. What they (and countless others) all have in common is the secret weapon that can seal the outcome of the election -- arrogance.

It's that swagger that says you're a winner, or the attitude you can afford to take with some journalists and politicians. It shows in the way you can pack them in from miles around when you make speeches, no matter how inconsequential.  It's right there in your campaign funding, where you only need to wish for cash and it seems to magically appear. Barack Obama's sure got it these days.

Trouble is, that level of arrogance almost always comes back to bite you in the ass. Witness:

• Nixon's arrogance led to his stunning defeat by Kennedy, directly contributing to his subsequent heightened paranoia and ultimately to the Watergate/resignation scandal.
  
• Dewey's campaign coasted to the finish line because he thought the game was in the bag, but who can forget that infamous "Dewey Defeats Truman" newspaper headline?
• Al Gore... He declined Bill Clinton's assistance (which may have been a smart choice in retrospect), but he couldn't even win his home state.
• Hillary was christened the presumptive nominee for so long that she forgot to run a primary race, and that could cost her a legacy.

John McCain tries his best to get on the evening news, but he can't seem to compete these days with Obama. Likfe Truman before him, McCain keeps plugging away while rock-star Obama keeps wowing the crowd.

As I look at the latest scenes of Europe screaming for Obama, and listen to the US news media fawning over his every breath, I have to wonder when the shine will suddenly come off this bandwagon. Obama had better learn from history and tone it down some -- American voters love attitude, but they love tearing down the favorite even more.