Oh, pity the poor "West Side Liberals" in tinseltown. They helped create Arnold, and now he comes back to bite them! :>)
Hollywood Moguls, Voting A Split Ticket
They Adore Ahnuld at The Box Office but May Balk at the Ballot Box
By Sharon Waxman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, August 13, 2003; Page C01
LOS ANGELES -- The candidacy of Arnold Schwarzenegger has left the tanned and tucked Brahmins of the Hollywood elite in a bit of a quandary.
"I'm going to have to give him some money," said Tom Pollock, a longtime Democrat who once ran Universal Pictures, where Schwarzenegger made some of his blockbusters. "I'm hoping to get away with two grand." As for voting for the Terminator, Pollock won't say. "He once told me he was going to leave the party over what the Republicans did to Clinton. . . . We'll see."
The race for California governor by one of the entertainment industry's biggest stars is mixing politics, business and society in a most uncomfortable way. On one hand, many of Hollywood's overwhelmingly Democratic power brokers find the bid by an action star to head the nation's most populous state an embarrassment, a confirmation of the worst stereotypes of their industry. Most say they are vehemently opposed to the recall of Democratic Gov. Gray Davis as a matter of principle.
On the other hand, many also have longstanding friendships with Schwarzenegger and his wife, television reporter Maria Shriver. In the country clubs and on the hyacinth-smothered verandas of mansions in Brentwood, Bel Air and Beverly Hills, no mogul worth his Ferragamo flip-flops would ignore the network of social relationships that support his net worth.
"I know Arnold personally. I like him. I know his heart is in the right place," said Haim Saban, one of the Democratic Party's biggest donors and a media mogul who made his first fortune with "Mighty Morphin Power Rangers." Saban, another self-made gazillionaire immigrant with an accent, was calling in from his vacation in Tel Aviv. He mocked Darrell Issa, the Republican congressman who financed the recall effort and then tearfully dropped out of the race, as "an opportunistic crybaby."
But Arnold? "I don't know enough about that side of him to express an opinion on whether he can do the job or not," Saban said diplomatically. "But I'm supporting one person only and that's Gray Davis, period. I don't walk out on my friends when they're down."
Saban said he would vote no on the recall question, and would not vote for any candidate on the ballot to replace Davis. "This whole thing is a joke, an absolute, complete and total joke. I won't have anything to do with it, other than to vote no on the recall," he said.
The politically active people in the industry find themselves deciding among candidates whom they are more accustomed to seeing around the brick-accented pool at the home of Arianna Huffington -- who is also a candidate. At Huffington's frequent salons it would not be unusual to see Schwarzenegger rubbing elbows with the arch-liberal movie star Warren Beatty, or former Los Angeles mayor Richard Riordan, a Republican, alongside hairdresser-turned-mogul-turned-producer Jon Peters talking to Democratic candidate Cruz Bustamante or Republican candidate Bill Simon.
This puts some prominent Hollywood figures in a strange position. "Arnold is a really smart guy. I've known him for a long time," said Mike Medavoy, a former studio chief who produced two "Terminator" movies with the movie star as well as the recent flop "The 6th Day." He is often at Huffington's mixers.
But Medavoy is a Democrat, and so far Schwarzenegger has not impressed him as a candidate. "I'd have to hear him out. I have no idea" whether he'd vote for the movie star, Medavoy said. "I want to hear somebody say something. All these platitudes, all this stuff, is ludicrous."
As for Huffington, another good friend: "I have to hear her out. I have to hear everybody out."
But Rob Stutzman, a spokesman for Schwarzenegger's campaign, says many Hollywood figures are stepping forward to support the movie star's candidacy.
"We've seen his friends be very supportive, many of whom are Democrats," he said, citing actor Tom Arnold, who was complimentary to Schwarzenegger on television in recent days. "He's a Democrat. It's evident that with Arnold being governor, Democrats, Republicans, independents, members of all parties will be very enthusiastic about him, and he'll be able to represent all of them."
Hal Lieberman, who produced "Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines," Schwarzenegger's latest blockbuster, agreed. "I don't feel in an odd position," he said from his office on the Universal lot. "I think Arnold is extremely serious-minded about everything he does, he's a terrific guy." Asked if he would vote for him, Lieberman said: "I'd have to ask my wife. She's a Democrat. Politics for me are something personal."
But he added: "I certainly support him in what he's doing. He's a terrific candidate." Would he work for the campaign? "I'd be flattered if he asked me," said Lieberman, caught off guard. "The answer is most likely yes. I'm not there yet."
It is a cliche to observe that the Hollywood power elite are mainly Democratic, but it also happens to be true. Studio honchos donate money to both parties for pragmatic reasons, but donations to the Democrats far outstrip those to Republicans. There are some prominent Republicans here -- former Warner Bros. chief Terry Semel, lawyer Bruce Ramer and writer-director Lionel Chetwynd, for example -- but they are a small group, and hardly competition for the billionaires who distribute millions to Democratic causes.
Some of Hollywood's big names were unwilling to comment about Schwarzenegger's candidacy this week. Jeffrey Katzenberg, a leading Democrat who heads DreamWorks SKG, declined by e-mail to comment. Sidney Sheinberg, a liberal political activist and former chief at MCA-Universal Studios, said through an assistant that he preferred not to talk about it. David Geffen, another DreamWorks principal and Democratic activist, did not return calls seeking his views.
But others in Hollywood, farther removed from the hierarchy of money and Monday box office grosses, had plenty to say, none of it positive. Left-wing writer-director David O. Russell ("Three Kings"), who often has political gatherings at his home, referred to Schwarzenegger as "a mediocre Republican celebrity" who is gliding by without having to express a political opinion. "I'd sure prefer it if people saw the issues and thought about those," he said.
"I think he's a joke," said Sylvia Desrochers, a publicist for some of Hollywood's younger actors and directors, such as Sofia Coppola. She said she was speaking for herself. "I'm angry he's running. The recall would've been a media circus anyway, but it's worse now. I feel like he's doing this because his career is struggling. I don't take it seriously. I don't know if he knows how our government works."
An executive at Warner Bros., speaking on condition of anonymity, said people in Hollywood were likely to support Schwarzenegger publicly out of loyalty -- and self-interest. "I'm assuming a lot of people may not vote for him but think he's smart and bright and will support his campaign," the executive said. "We're a practical country. If he wins they want to make sure he knows they supported him."
And who better than Hollywood's glad-handing moguls to glad-hand a movie star candidate? In a place where stroking celebrities is a survival skill, it seems second nature. "To his face they'll probably say, 'I'm going to vote for you,' " Medavoy said. "It's like a guy walking out of the theater from a movie he really hates and saying to the director, 'You did it again.' Whatever that means. 'Nobody else could've done it.' "
But, Medavoy added, "when you go in the booth, you're in there by yourself. If people have half a brain, they'll support someone who's going to help the state. If they think Arnold will, they'll back him. If they won't, they'll give lip service."
He warned: "There's too much at stake here for our children, for us, to make a simple choice based on friendship."
If Hollywood is less than thrilled with Schwarzenegger's candidacy, some say it has only itself to blame. After all, the pop culture icon is the creation of the massive machine that for decades has churned out blockbuster movies.
"He's like the golem," said producer Ludi Boeken. "All these Jewish Democratic studio people created this Terminator which has conquered the world for them, just like the golem, created by Jews in Prague in the Middle Ages. The golem was bigger and stronger than normal mortals. And once they woke him up, he controlled those who created him.
"He has a life of his own, he's uncontrollable, and he's the Republican candidate. Now all these left-wing liberals are biting their lips and saying: What did we create?"
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