I never thought I would have a better insight into poor people than does liberal recall-opposer and Arnold-basher Steve Lopez of the Dog Trainer. But Lopez has proved that he doesn’t have a clue, in his column titled Arnold Flexes a Revolution Among the Suffering ‘Haves’. After noting that the average Joe supports Arnold because he feels ripped off by state government, Lopez starts in with the nonsense:

But on the road with Arnold’s California Comeback Express, I noticed something at the rallies in Costa Mesa, San Diego and Arcadia.

The revolutionaries don’t seem to be suffering as much as you’d expect, given their zeal for storming the walls. They dress reasonably well (particularly in San Diego), they drive cars the size of PT boats, and they struggle when I ask what exactly is missing in their lives.

“I guess taxes are too high,” a retiree told me in Costa Mesa.

Now, this all could be considered fair comment as applied to the people at the rallies. But Lopez acts as though the people at the rallies are representative of the plurality of Californians who still (to Lopez’s chagrin) support Arnold, despite the best efforts of Lopez’s paper to derail Arnold’s campaign.

Memo to Lopez: the people who are really excited about keeping their car taxes low are working, and don’t have time to attend political rallies — much less cover them for a newspaper and make smart-ass comments.

Lopez continues:

The hike in the annual car tax puts it among the highest in the nation. But on the average car, we’re talking about a jump from $70 to $210. Not exactly chump change, but it’s quite a spectacle to see people delirious over a savings of $140, especially when it will mean $4 billion in cuts that Schwarzenegger has yet to explain.

Understand clearly: this is coming from a guy whom the L.A. Examiner has described as “a guy paid $300,000 a year to write three columns a week.“

Yeah, I guess it is a little difficult to understand someone being happy about the prospect of saving a measly $140 — especially when you pull in three hundred large a year. Jeez, $140 won’t even get you a decent bottle of wine at Spago.

Of course, for many poor people it could mean the difference between having enough money to put down a security deposit on an apartment, and continuing to have to live in an overpriced motel room. It could mean the difference between a nutritious diet and an unhealthy one — for weeks. It could mean a decent Christmas for the kids instead of the crap one you figured you’d have to settle for.

But don’t try to explain that to $300,000 per year columnist Steve Lopez. He just thinks it’s all a hoot.