In an otherwise generous assessment yesterday of Arnold Schwarzenegger, the editorial board of The New York Times referred to him as “the accidental governor.”The implication seems to be that Mr. Schwarzenegger, as a body builder and movie actor with no political experience, has no business occupying a position of such authority. He therefore must have stumbled into the job through dumb luck, much like Peter Sellers’ character in “Being There.” The Times’ editors seem surprised that such a rube would succeed after the spectacular failure of a seasoned professional such as Gray Davis.

By our lights, however, Mr. Schwarzenegger’s election was a quintessentially premeditated act — on the part of candidate and of the electorate — that reaffirms our faith in America’s democratic system. As a young man, Mr. Schwarzenegger predicted that one day he would be rich, famous, and powerful — exhibiting, in retrospect, the sort of early ambition that is a hallmark of leadership. He methodically built a spectacular Hollywood career, then showed the same shrewdness in seizing political opportunity and winning the campaign last year. It’s hard to construe such a life-changing effort as an accident.

Nor were the citizens of California groping about in a fog when they chose him to lead their state. They felt strongly enough about the need to remove Mr. Davis that they turned out in droves to recall him. Despite a famously broad field, Mr. Schwarzenegger received a convincing plurality of 49%, more than his two nearest competitors combined.

To call such an outcome an accident is to sneer at the principle of representative democracy. Contrast the vibrancy of the California recall to the biennial sleep-walk by which New York re-elects its virtually anonymous state legislators. Which better represents a deliberate choice of the people?

Nor should anyone be surprised that Mr. Schwarzenegger is using his mandate to rack up political accomplishments. The Times cites his reform of California’s workers’ compensation system as a feather in his cap. Let’s see if they join us in urging Governor Pataki to make a similar effort in New York. Mr. Pataki caused a similar stir when he took office nine years ago as a pro-growth Republican, replacing Governor Cuomo, a big-government Democrat, after three terms. Now that Mr. Pataki is in his own third term — having promised to serve no more than two — the so-called accident in California starts to look like an inspiration.