Know Chapman College well. Nice Christian based conservative private school. And boy, is it expensive!
Schwarzenegger picks cozy setting for 'town hall'
John Wildermuth, Chronicle Political Writer
Tuesday, September 9, 2003
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Orange -- Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger opened his "Ask Arnold" campaign talk show Monday at Chapman University, a friendly setting chosen with a serious purpose.
Although billed as a "town hall" meeting, it was quickly apparent the town was a mighty small one. Students from the private school in the heart of conservative Orange County were joined by local businesspeople and Republican activists in an audience that greeted the actor-turned-politician with thunderous applause and cheered every slam at Democratic Gov. Gray Davis.
But the college setting also gave Schwarzenegger a chance to take his campaign to the people he needs if he's going to finish on top of the replacement vote in the Oct. 7 recall election. Although he's running for governor, Schwarzenegger is still "the Terminator," the Hollywood action hero who can draw crowds only dreamed of by most politicians. His job now is to convert his fans into voters who can move him into his next starring role in Sacramento.
"There were 13 million people who didn't participate in the last election," Schwarzenegger told the crowd in the college auditorium. "Now you have to bring people in to be part of that process. What's important is that every voice is heard."
That's a plea aimed directly at California's young people, who typically are a lot more interested in the movies than in the state's budget problems. But if Schwarzenegger can use his star appeal to bring a whole new set of voters to the polls, he can turn the state's conventional political wisdom on its head.
There was only one reason Adam Seligman was in the audience Monday night.
"I'm here for Arnie," the UCLA student said. "I like him as a movie star and I agree with him politically."
Whitney Owens, a junior at Chapman, was impressed enough by what she heard Monday that she plans to register to vote in the recall election.
"He wasn't just saying to everyone 'Yes, I'll do that,' " she said. "He wasn't afraid to say that something wasn't his top priority."
Although the 150 or so people perched in chairs and bleachers around the stage weren't asking Schwarzenegger tough questions, Owens was impressed by the way he handled himself.
"Nothing caught him off-guard," she said. "At least he's taking this seriously."
A Field Poll released today showed Schwarzenegger running second in the replacement election, close behind Democratic Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante. But for the candidates farther back in the pack, attracting new voters is just about their only hope.
"The pollsters are surveying the likely voters," said independent Arianna Huffington, who spoke to about 300 students Monday at Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa. "Our strategy is to get the unlikely voters. If we do, it changes the dynamic of the race."
Huffington, a columnist who bills herself as a progressive, attracts an entirely different audience from Schwarzenegger. While the actor drew cheers when he talked about his ability to work closely with President Bush and other national Republican leaders, Huffington's biggest applause lines came when she talked about what she called Bush's "fanaticism."
"The administration thinks getting deeper into the quagmire of Iraq is more important than doing what's right for California," she said.
Huffington, who remains mired in single digits in the recall replacement polls, knows a new approach is needed. That's one reason she's touring college campuses across the state, playing the Pied Piper for students who wouldn't ordinarily join the political fray.
"I've got to appeal to people who have stopped voting, appeal to the 13 million disaffected voters," she said. "The only way is to bring 10 percent of that 13 million back into the race.
"The parties have given up on those voters, they don't even poll them."
Huffington converted a few people in the audience.
"You really believe what you're talking about and that's awesome," Malissa Gatewood of Garden Grove told Huffington after the talk.
"She'll really independent," added Quang Pham, a sophomore from Santa Ana. "I see she wouldn't be affected by the special interests."
Any support Huffington attracts is probably bad news for Davis, since liberal college students are typical Democratic voters.
But a number of the students who showed up to hear Huffington have already decided they don't want Davis as governor.
"My parents are small business owners and I hear my dad say his electricity costs will be going up 30 percent," said Amish Dalal, a sophomore from Huntington Beach. "It's hard to make ends meet, and that affects where I'm going to go to college."
A Democrat, Dalal's only concern now is who should replace Davis.
"I don't know whether I should follow party loyalty and vote for (Bustamante) or go with the better candidate, Arianna."
The search for the missing voters is going to continue with Huffington touring more colleges and Schwarzenegger moving his talk show to what are likely to be less friendly confines in other parts of the state.
"I'll take this show on the road," he promised.
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