From WNYKR's in New York, this is NPR's On the Media.

I'm Bob Garfield.

And I'm Brooke Gladstone.

This week, Arnold, the action hero, became governor-elect of the state of California.

And despite pre-election polls that predicted an easy win for Arnold, it seems like many members of the media could not quite believe what they were reporting.

On national news outlets across the nation, the media's incredulity was audible.

Vote yes on the recall, yes for Arnold, and yes for the people of California.

Governor Schwarzenegger... And your name, please? Arnold Schwarzenegger And your name is?

Oh, Schwarzenegger.

Will it be close.

Six months ago, it seemed impossible.

Well, we don't know.

It is up to the guard now.

It's up to God for the decision.

Now, with the polls closed

after a heavy voter turnout,

the impossible has become inevitable.

Impossible to whom? Certainly not to Schwarzenegger, and apparently not to Harper's

magazine editor Louis Lapham. In his Harper's magazine column this month, Lapham looks

askance at the eastern elites who were shocked, shocked by Arnold's presumption, citing three contributors to the New York

Times who noted that California wallowed in mindless ego and where were the ropes of leadership

with which to drag the animal back to the high and solid ground of the shining city on the hill?

...