Arnold is "Libertarian Lite"
Schwarzenegger Tackles Issues on Talk Show
By William Booth
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, August 28, 2003; Page A04
LOS ANGELES, Aug. 27 -- Gay marriage? He's against it. Medical marijuana? He's for it. After weeks of skating around the hot-button social issues in California, actor Arnold Schwarzenegger today revealed his positions on a call-in radio talk show.
Schwarzenegger, the leading Republican in the race to replace Gov. Gray Davis (D) if he is ousted from office in October, described himself as "pro-choice" and said he would defend a woman's right to abortion services. But he said he is against late-stage procedures that some call "partial-birth" abortions.
On gay marriage, Schwarzenegger said: "I do support domestic partnerships." But he said he is against state-sanctioned unions for gays and lesbians. "Marriage should be between a man and woman," he said.
The candidate, who has been criticized by his GOP opponents for his vague positions and "sound-bite campaign," veered left and right and center during a rapid-fire question-and-answer session on the Sean Hannity radio show this morning.
As the actor laid out his positions on social issues, Davis signed what he described as the strongest consumer financial privacy legislation in the nation. The bill prohibits financial institutions from sharing with third parties details of consumers' balances and transactions.
"We all know that when California leads, America follows," Davis said. "We're putting consumers in control of their intimate financial DNA."
On the radio show, Schwarzenegger said he is opposed to giving a driver's license to an illegal immigrant -- a position supported by Davis.
Schwarzenegger said he is not against prayer in public schools. "I think it should be up to the schools," he said. But he noted that he is against school vouchers: "I think it's very important we work with the current system."
Drilling for oil off the California coast? "Absolutely not," Schwarzenegger said.
A ban on assault weapons? "Yes, I do support that."
Schwarzenegger heads to the more conservative central valley of California on Thursday; and in recent days, he has stressed the things conservatives like to hear -- telling radio listeners on an earlier talk show that he is Republican through and through, and restating his opposition to new taxes.
Schwarzenegger's positions are generally not a surprise, as his associates and friends have described his politics as those of a moderate, millionaire, Hollywood Republican who is married to a Democrat.
Schwarzenegger today took a shot at his Democratic rival, Lt. Gov. Cruz M. Bustamante, who advocates cuts in services and new taxes on wealthy citizens as part of his "tough love" plan to bail California out of its $8 billion budget shortfall.
"People have to realize that he's the same as Gray Davis," Schwarzenegger said. "It's the same mold; nothing has changed," he said. "It will be exactly the same, which is, 'Oh, we made a mistake; oh, we want to continue spending.' How can we continue spending money that we don't have?"
Schwarzenegger said he would raise taxes only in case of a state emergency. His GOP opponents have asked him to sign a pledge never to increase taxes. Republican recall candidate Peter Ueberroth, the former major league baseball commissioner, said on CNN today: "If taxes were raised in any way, shape or form for the little bit of money that would go into the budget, more jobs would leave the state and take those payrolls out of the state."
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