People are desperate because they don't actually control the political process. Wealthy lobbyists control it. That is, banks, billionaires, and major corporations. When all you have to vote for is the cabal of phony candidates that a lobby-controlled system trots out for you, you have plenty of reason to be desperate. Schwarzenneger was just another of those pre-chosen faces...a very saleable one, as it turned out. (Karl Rove is a clever manipulator.) It's mass marketing at the polling booth. It's as tawdry as selling cheeseburgers.