USA: AFTER THREE DECADES OF AMBITION AND SELF-REINVENTION ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER ON VERGE OF BECOMING GOVERNOR OF CALIFORNIA

Record ID: 835894

  • Title: USA: AFTER THREE DECADES OF AMBITION AND SELF-REINVENTION ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER ON VERGE OF BECOMING GOVERNOR OF CALIFORNIA
  • Date: 3rd October 2003
  • Summary: (L!2)BURBANK, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES (OCTOBER 2, 2003) (REUTERS) SETUP SHOT OF PEOPLE EATING OUTDOORS SOUNDBITE (English) (MOS) MIKE GRACEFFO SAYING: "Personally, I'm not a big Arnold Schwarzenegger fan. I thought he was okay in some of those action movies, but I don't think he knows anything about running a government." SOUNDBITE (English) (MOS) DAVE HOWARD SAYING:
  • Embargoed: 18th October 2003 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES AND VARIOUS LOCATIONS
  • City:
  • Country: USA
  • Topics: Entertainment
  • Reuters ID: LVA63IBN5TVUL0RGTPSF7ZW0AOTR
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  • Story Text: After three decades of ambition and self-reinvention, Arnold Schwarzenegger is on the verge of pulling off a stunning coup in the California recall election.
    With just five days to go until California's historic recall election, candidate Arnold Schwarzenegger continues to lead the pack of potential replacements should sitting Governor Gray Davis be removed from office. The most recent USA Today/CNN/Gallup polls show 63% of voters support recalling the incumbent Democrat.
    Schwarzenegger, an Austrian-born actor making his first run for elected office, is polling 40% among those who could replace Davis. Democratic Lieutenant Governor Cruz Bustamante is polling second with 25% and Republican State Senator Tom McClintock is third with about 18%.
    But even as Schwarzenegger enjoys this political momentum, he is being dogged by questions about his treatment of women. The Los Angeles Times reported allegations on Thursday (October 2) that Schwarzenegger groped and humiliated six women over a period of three decades.
    The alleged incidents took place on movie sets and in studio offices - the first in the 1970s and the latest in 2000. Schwarzenegger's campaign staffers initially portrayed the allegations as part of a political smear campaign. But on the campaign trail in San Diego on Thursday, Schwarzenegger offered an apology to the women and pledged to be a champion of women's issues.
    "I don't think people care. Their memory span is short," says Los Angeles Times columnist David Shaw. "They remember him from his last few movies, he seems like a very nice, likeable fellow. All of the negative stuff about how he allegedly sexually harasses women and treats women badly in various ways - you know, he's got this gorgeous Kennedy wife standing alongside him saying 'he's my man, I stand by my man.' I think he's been very successful at avoiding and dodging all of these bullets."
    The recall election and Schwarzenegger's campaign for governor have left Californians bitterly divided.
    "It's a real job and you should have qualifications. It's not some hobby for playboys," says Burbank resident Dave Howard.
    "I'm not a big Arnold Schwarzenegger fan. I thought he was okay in some of those action movies, but I don't think he knows anything about running a government," said fellow B urbanker Mike Graceffo. The allegations of sexual harassment have also raised the ire of many women, including Patty Tadeo.
    "I wouldn't want anybody doing that to me. I don't like it," Tadeo said. However, as evidenced by the polls, Schwarzenegger also has zealous backers.
    "We've had some very bad years with Gray Davis and Bustamante and I think it's time to change and I'm willing to see a Reaganesque kind of change to California politics. Let's see if he can invigorate California politics," said businessman Derek McLish.
    Schwarzenegger was born in the small town of Thal, Austria in 1947.
    During those gritty post-war years, he turned to bodybuilding as a ticket out of the rural backwater. In 1968, "Arnie" as he has become known to fans, came to the United States and began to transform the bodybuilding scene. His first outing in show business was the 1970 farcical low-budget "Hercules in New York." He next appeared in the ground-breaking documentary "Pumping Iron"
    in 1977. From these early beginnings, Schwarzenegger displayed a fiery ambition and swagger that would become his trademark. In 1984, he starred in "The Terminator" - an iconic role that launched him as a confirmed action star.
    "Commando" followed in 1985, leading to "Predator,"
    "The Running Man," and "Red Heat." Arnie then took a few good-natured pokes at his tough guy image in 1988's "Twins"
    and 1990's "Kindergarten Cop." This past summer, Schwarzenegger returned for a third instalment of "The Terminator" franchise in "Terminator 3: The Rise of the Machines."
    Schwarzenegger's personal fortune has not solely been amassed through lucrative movie contracts; he has also been active in real estate development, including a popular restaurant called "Schatzi's on Main" in Santa Monica, California.
    "He's a smart guy," says Times columnist Shaw.
    "I think most people realize that he has done a very shrewd job of managing his movie career. He did a very shrewd job of managing his bodybuilding career. He owns a restaurant, he owns real estate, he's got a pretty good business empire going. And I think that one of the things he gained in the debates was that he didn't step on his lower lip. I mean, anybody who was hoping that in the debate Schwarzenegger would be exposed a brainless, witless movie-actor-bodybuilder got disabused of that notion very quickly."
    Schwarzenegger launched his career as a political activist in 2002, backing Proposition 49, a ballot measure that created after-school programs for children. The campaign was widely viewed as a trial run for future political ventures, allowing him to burnish his image as a statesman and advocate of children's issues.
    Schwarzenegger also married into one of the United States' most powerful political families. His wife Maria Shriver is the niece of President John F. Kennedy. In his run for governor, Arnie has scored endorsements and backing from former California Governor Pete Wilson, Congressman Darrell Issa who bankrolled the recall campaign, as well as a duo of internationally-known economic advisors: billionaire investor Warren Buffett and former U.S.
    Secretary of State George Shultz.
    "He's (Schwarzenegger) refused to answer a lot of questions that other politicians are always forced to answer," says Times columnist Shaw.
    "In a short campaign like this it doesn't seem to have hurt him. He participated in only the debate where the questions were given to him in advance. The media certainly covered that fact. It was certainly pointed out.
    But nobody seems to care. I do think he's gotten more coverage than most candidates. He's been on Larry King, he's been on Oprah Winfrey, he announces his candidacy on a late-night talk show - opportunities that other candidates don't have."
    Leading up to the election, Schwarzenegger is making a four-day bus tour of California. The tour and his entire campaign have been an international media bonanza.
    Election Day on October 7th is likely to be the most intensive day yet of reporting on this immigrant turned front-runner in the race for California governor.
    Quirkey Showbiz
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