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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: American Spirit who wrote (472576)	10/7/2003 11:20:25 PM
From: Rick Slemmer	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 769667

A serial sexual harrasser in the state house. Great. Another shining example of the Clinton Legacy.

To: American Spirit who wrote (472576)	10/7/2003 11:37:42 PM
From: Hope Praytochange	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 769667

Schwarzenegger Gets Calif. Voters Pumped Up By Rene Sanchez Washington Post Staff Writer Tuesday, October 7, 2003; 11:00 PM LOS ANGELES, Oct. 7 -- At one of his last campaign stops, thousands of voters waited two hours to hear him speak. They brought cameras, waved banners and called him by his first name. They sang along with furious delight when they heard the rock anthem he always blared as he blitzed the state: "We're not going to take it anymore!" California is accustomed to watching movie stars and entertainers plunge into politics -- Ronald Reagan, Clint Eastwood, the late Sonny Bono. But it has never seen anything quite like the swift and improbable political rise of actor Arnold Schwarzenegger, who appeared headed for the governor's mansion according to exit polls. In less than two months, the Austrian immigrant, former bodybuilding champ and star of "Terminator" fame has used his celebrity, his wealth and a throw-the bums-out battle cry to attract legions of disgruntled voters yearning for a postcard California where car taxes never triple and economic good times are as reliable as the sunshine. He has said almost nothing about how he will confront the issues that fueled Tuesday's historic recall election -- most notably, a budget crisis that is pushing California, home of one of the world's largest economies, to the brink of financial disaster. He skipped candidate debates and broke a promise not to take campaign cash. He was engulfed in recent days by allegations that he groped or sexually harassed women over the past 25 years. He conceded publicly that he "behaved badly." Simultaneous headlines said that as a young man he once expressed admiration for Adolf Hitler's speaking style. But even amid late signs that his lead in the polls had dwindled, Schwarzenegger, 56, looked serene and confident as he cast his ballot here Tuesday, striking a pose as the man to beat. He was fresh from a whirlwind five-day tour of the state that drew the kind of large, adoring crowds that few California politicians ever see. At times, he looked as though he was fulfilling a fantasy he first expressed decades ago, pumping iron in a grubby Venice gym, to have "the feeling like Kennedy had, you know, to speak to maybe 50,000 people at one time and having them cheer. . . . " Since Schwarzenegger began campaigning, it has been clear that some of that appeal is rooted purely in the cult of celebrity. "No, he's not that tall. And I got a good look at him!" one young man who attended a rally for the actor in Huntington Beach on Monday shouted into his cell phone after the raucous event ended. But Schwarzenegger's campaign also appears to have struck a nerve with a variety of voters for other reasons. To listen to them is to hear an electorate desperate for a leader not peddling stale party lines or 10-point plans. "He's something different. He's not a politician," said Lori Lateer of Pasadena, 49, a vice president of a manufacturing firm. "What I'm tired of is people who make specific statements and don't achieve it anyway." "We need to get somebody different in there and hope he shakes things up a bit," said Ernie Lateer, a retiree in Pasadena. In Huntington Beach on Monday, Matthew Biller, who took a three-hour lunch break to see Schwarzenegger, put it this way: "He's got a great attitude. You can believe what he says. I think he's going to clear the dust off and really make the state better." Schwarzenegger used Hollywood gimmicks throughout his campaign to catch the public's eye. He announced his candidacy on NBC's "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno," shocking his top aides -- some had to crumble statements they were about to distribute saying he would not run in the recall election. He has constantly invoked signature lines from his action films. "Gray Davis has terminated jobs. Gray Davis has terminated dreams. Gray Davis has terminated opportunity," he told supporters Monday. "Now it's time to terminate him." He waved a broom at a Sacramento rally Sunday as he said he would "clean house" in the capital. He named the buses on the statewide campaign tour after some of his films -- "Total Recall," "Predator." He smashed a car with a wrecking ball to symbolize his plans to eliminate the car taxes that Davis increased. Still, his campaign was far more than a feel-good goof. It was meticulously planned months before he decided to become a candidate. Schwarzenegger is in some ways still a political novice. Even as he campaigned, he had to study state policies on water and agriculture, among other topics. But he has been surrounded by political pros who worked for Republican Pete Wilson when he was California's governor a decade ago. And he has staked out positions on some of the issues that Californians care most about -- vowing to protect the coastline, support abortion rights and protect schools from budget cuts. Schwarzenegger also waged a sophisticated television ad campaign unrivaled by any other in the race. The ads typically featured him looking into a camera and using bold words to make vague promises. One spot that ran statewide for nearly two weeks especially impressed his rivals' strategists. In it, Schwarzenegger complained that tribal casinos were not paying enough taxes to the state and that other candidates were bought by their political money. "I don't play that game," Schwarzenegger then said, with an action-hero glint in his eye. "Give me your vote. And I guarantee you that things will change.''