Washington, D.C. He
fulfilled all qualifications to run for governor of California: He is
old enough (56), he is a (naturalized) citizen, and he obtained the
65 signatures and paid the $3,500 required to be on the ballot of the
state's gubernatorial recall election October 7. Born the son of a policeman
on July 30,1947, in Graz, Austria, Arnold Schwarzenegger leaped to instant
fame at age 20 as the youngest winner of the "Mister Universe"
title in the history of the bodybuilding sport. That prompted him in
1968 to immigrate to America where athletic fame offers more financial
rewards than anywhere else in the world. Sure enough, Hollywood's promoters
received him with open arms and turned him into a superman in such action-packed
muscleman roles as "The Terminator" and "Conan the Barbarian."
While elbowing his way to the top of the movie world's attractions with
the widest name recognition and the biggest earnings, Arnold was not
slow networking his way beyond the Hollywood crowd into America's other
big entertainment arenas, the media and politics. That is how, in 1986,
he got to meet and marry television newscaster Maria Shriver, niece
of President John F. Kennedy and daughter of Sergeant Shriver, George
McGovern's running mate in the 1972 presidential race.
In spite of his strong family ties to liberal Democrats, Arnold found
it opportune to designate himself a Republican, albeit with a variety
of slightly incongruous views. While he is said to admire George W.
Bush, he favors legalized abortion, "sensible" gun control,
and adoption by homosexual parents. Karl Rove, the President's senior
adviser, has so far not endorsed Schwarzenegger's gubernatorial candidacy,
perhaps because the White House was burned when it backed the losing
campaign of Republican Bill Simon against Governor Davis.
Nevertheless, Arnold enjoys the support of other political heavyweights.
Former California Governor Pete Wilson volunteered to co-chair his campaign,
and billionaire businessman Warren Buffett to serve as adviser. New
York Governor George Pataki endorsed Arnold as a candidate who "brings
a fresh perspective and new ideas to California." Wisely, Pataki
did not guess what "fresh" ideas Arnold may have in mind for
the reduction of California's $38 billion deficit--bigger than the deficits
of all other 49 states combined. So far, Arnold has delineated his plans
for the 35 million people in the world's 5th largest economy with only
one platitude: "I'll go to Sacramento and clean up the house."
In keeping with today's media standards, Schwarzenegger's campaign will
likely remain short on substance and long on theatrics. Following a
widely disseminated rumor that he was not interested in the governorship,
he made his surprise announcement of his candidacy not on the capitol
steps in Sacramento but after a prime time appearance on the sofa of
jokester Jay Leno.
Although Arnold's income in 2000 and 2001 approached $57 million, which
could easily finance a lavish campaign, he talked about launching a
fundraising tour of his own. So far, nothing is known of contributions
he has made to other campaigns. For charity, he did donate a property
worth $2 million to the Catholic Church and $100,000 to the Inter-City
Games Foundation for poor youngsters.
As a physical fitness promoter, he could be a valuable role model. When
he visited a New York school, he urged the students to abhor violence.
Never mind that, in his role as "Terminator," Mr. Schwarzenegger
allegedly shot down a total of 400 people with automatic weapons.
If Gray Davis gets recalled, the politically untrained and inexperienced
actor may prevail over his 134 competitors--some of them career politicians--with
a plurality of as few as 25 percent of the voters. Most of America's
friends and critics abroad see California's recall circus as a weird
perversion of the electoral process. What if all elections could be
reversed in this manner?
After the last presidential election, an Arab government official asked
me why Bush could become President with fewer votes than his losing
opponent.
I hope I will not have to explain to him after October 7 why the Terminator
needed less than a third of the vote to become California's new governor
while the recalled governor garnered more votes against his recall.