(LA Times) The governor's predilection for such remote-control governing is understandable. For all that he claims to absolutely love his job, he has never demonstrated a true enjoyment of politics as it's normally understood — or for that matter, much aptitude for it. He doesn't project any of the qualities we see in born politicians whatever their ideological stripe, such as Bill Clinton's empathy for ordinary citizens, Lyndon Johnson's relish for horse-trading or Richard Nixon's intellectual fascination with the political process. ...

Everything else about governing seems to leave him bored. Perhaps the passage of his budget bonds and a workers' compensation reform early in his term convinced him that the game is easy. But the bonds didn't solve anything about the state budget, the workers' comp reform is a work in progress, and he's achieved nothing of note since then. His lack of understanding that politics is the art of building consensus and reaching compromise over the long term explains why he retreats into name-calling and petulant sulking when he doesn't get his way, a personality trait that never has been even remotely charming and has now become tiresome and self-destructive.