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Politics : Politics for Pros- moderated -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: JohnM who wrote (10370)	10/2/2003 3:30:46 PM
From: LindyBill	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 793717

"Men behaving badly." Arnold played it the only way to play it. Water off a duck's back for him. Now he needs to get ready to "grope" the Legislature. And squeeze. ________________________________________________________________________ October 2, 2003 Schwarzenegger Says He's 'Behaved Badly' and Apologizes By KIRK SEMPLE esponding to published accusations that he had sexually harassed several women before he entered politics, Arnold Schwarzenegger, the Republican front-runner in the California recall election, acknowledged today that he had behaved offensively at times in his past and apologized for it. Mr. Schwarzenegger's comments, delivered to a roaring crowd of supporters in San Diego, came after The Los Angeles Times published an article today in which six women accused him of sexual harassment at various times over the past three decades. The newspaper reported that the women had described incidents "in movie sets, in studio offices and in other settings," including a Gold's Gym and during the filming of "Terminator 2: Judgment Day," a 1991 picture. "A lot of the stuff in the story is not true," Mr. Schwarzenegger said today. "But I have to say that where there's smoke, there's fire." While not directly addressing the accusations in The Times article, he continued: "Yes, I have behaved badly sometimes. Yes, it is true that I was on rowdy movie sets and I have done things that were not right and I thought were playful. But now I recognize that I have offended people. And to those people I have offended, I want to say to them that I'm deeply sorry about that and I apologize because that's not what I tried to do." The Los Angeles Times reported that three of the women said that Mr. Schwarzenegger had grabbed their breasts. A fourth woman told the newspaper that Mr. Schwarzenegger had reached under her skirt and grasped her buttocks. A fifth woman told The Los Angeles Times that Mr. Schwarzenegger had groped her in a hotel elevator and had tried to remove her bathing suit. A sixth said Mr. Schwarzenegger had "pulled her onto his lap and asked whether a certain sexual act had ever been performed on her," the newspaper reported. According to the women's accounts, one of the incidents occurred in the 1970's, two in the 1980's, two in the 1990's and one in 2000. The Times article is not the first to level such accusations against Mr. Schwarzenegger. In 2001, Premiere Magazine published a detailed profile of Mr. Schwarzenegger that accused him of being a habitual womanizer, behaving crudely and cheating on his wife, Maria Shriver, whom he married in 1986. Mr. Schwarzenegger dismissed the assertions then as "trash." Although Mr. Schwarzenegger has taken positions on some social issues that tend to attract votes from women — supporting abortion rights, some gun controls and environmental protections — that has not always been reflected in the polls. Some of Mr. Schwarzenegger's published comments have drawn attention and criticism concerning his attitudes toward women, leading him to declare a month ago that he has "the utmost respect for women." And today, Mr. Schwarzenegger said, "I want to prove to the women that I will be a champion of the women, a champion for the women, and I hope that you will give me the chance to prove that." He added, "Now let's go from the dirty politics back to the future of California." A Los Angeles Times poll made public on Wednesday showed that those it deemed likely voters were solidly in favor of removing Governor Gray Davis, a Democrat, and replacing him with Mr. Schwarzenegger on Tuesday. The poll, the second in a week to show such a trend, had Mr. Davis losing ground, with 56 percent of likely voters now favoring his removal. The poll also showed that Mr. Schwarzenegger had moved ahead of his other rivals in the race and was the choice of 40 percent of the people surveyed. Lt. Gov. Cruz M. Bustamante, a Democrat, was favored by 32 percent and State Senator Tom McClintock, a conservative Republican, by 15 percent. The margin of error was plus or minus three percentage points. After his speech in San Diego today, Mr. Schwarzenegger led a caravan of aides, supporters and reporters north from San Diego for a final, four-day burst of campaigning propelled by his growing confidence in victory next week. The entourage, which is to stop in Los Angeles tonight and wind up on Sunday in Sacramento, includes a bus for the candidate and family, a bus for his staff, and five buses for the news media. Today's events came a day after Mr. Schwarzenegger outlined his plan for the first 100 days of his administration. In a speech that some critics said sounded presumptuously like the address of an elected governor rather than an aspiring candidate, the actor promised that on his first day in office he would repeal the tripling of a new automobile tax. He also said he would quickly move to call a special session of the Legislature and have the state budget audited. He further said he would renegotiate the state employee contracts and Indian gambling compacts to get more money for the state, and he pledged to repeal a new law granting illegal immigrants the right to get driver's licenses.