Posted on 09/15/2003 8:42:31 AM PDT by Hillary's Lovely Legs
LOS ANGELES - Arnold Schwarzenegger and Gov. Gray Davis (news - web sites) brought out the big names as they headed into the final three weeks of the gubernatorial recall campaign, with the actor turning to Oprah Winfrey and the governor enlisting the help of former President Clinton (news - web sites).
AP Photo
AFP Slideshow: Calif. Recall Election
Schwarzenegger and his wife, television journalist Maria Shriver, flew to Chicago and appeared on Monday's season premiere of "The Oprah Winfrey Show (news - Y! TV)." Polls show the Republican is struggling to win over women, the talk show's primary audience.
Schwarzenegger told Winfrey he was very excited about the campaign. "It's very intense, the whole thing, but I'm in shape," he said.
Before Schwarzenegger took the stage, Winfrey asked Shriver — a member of the Kennedy family — whether she had been brought up to look the other way if her husband was a womanizer.
"You know that ticks me off," Shriver said. "I am my own woman, I have not been bred to look the other way. I accept him with all his strengths and all his weaknesses, as he does me."
Schwarzenegger later talked with Winfrey about old magazine articles that have resurfaced in which he talked about a sexually salacious, party-hard lifestyle. He said they reflected a 1970s strategy then to pump up interest in body building, the sport that made him famous.
"We really were out there doing crazy things. We were trying to get the attention," he said. "At that time I didn't think I was going to run for governor."
Davis, meanwhile, was scheduled to make a second day of campaign stops with Clinton, following a joint appearance Sunday at a predominantly black church in Los Angeles.
Davis and Clinton were the marquee names at the scheduled dedication of the William Jefferson Clinton elementary school in the impoverished suburb of Compton. The two were later to attend a fund raiser at the home of financier Ron Burkle.
Clinton spoke passionately against the recall during the Sunday morning service, mixing Scripture with politics in a 40-minute address at the First African Methodist Episcopal Church, the city's oldest black congregation.
He repeated his party's theme that the Oct. 7 recall election is part of a right-wing power grab, and said removing Davis could scare future officeholders away from making difficult choices.
"Gray Davis and I have been friends for a long time, and I don't want this happening to him. But this is way bigger than him. It's you I'm worried about. It's California I worry about. I don't want you to become a laughing stock, or a carnival, or the beginning of a circus in America where we throw people out for making tough decisions," Clinton said.
After a pause, he said: "Don't do this. Don't do this." The congregation erupted in applause.
Davis was scheduled to campaign this week with other prominent Democratic figures, including former Vice President Al Gore (news - web sites), the Rev. Jesse Jackson (news - web sites) and several of the 2004 Democratic presidential candidates.
His appearance with Clinton came a day after state Democrats held an emergency meeting to address their campaign strategy, re-emphasizing their opposition to the recall while endorsing Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante if voters remove Davis on the ballot's first question.
Bustamante spent the weekend out of state raising money. Mechanical problems with his charter plane caused him to arrive too late in Orange County Sunday to receive an endorsement from the Mexican American Political Association, said his spokesman Luis Vizcaino.
The group's president, Nativo Lopez, said rules prohibited the organization from endorsing the lieutenant governor's "No on Recall, Yes on Bustamante" strategy unless he appeared in person to request the association's support.
"I'm a supporter of Bustamante but rules are rules," Lopez said.
Republicans, meanwhile, were struggling to unite behind a common message and a single candidate.
Schwarzenegger, the leading GOP candidate, appealed to Republicans to rally behind him during the state party convention Saturday in Los Angeles. His chief Republican rival, state Sen. Tom McClintock, refused to drop out.
The struggle is important because many Republicans feel the two candidates will split the GOP vote, handing the governorship to Bustamante if voters oust Davis.
Schwarzenegger did not address the issue Sunday when he spoke in Orange County to a statewide firefighters' association. Instead, he repeated a campaign theme that the state is on the wrong course and that he can set it straight with stronger leadership.
With the help of Clinton and other Democratic luminaries, Davis is trying to show he is working to address the issues that prompted the recall. He signed an overdue budget that reduced the state's multibillion dollar deficit, and has convened town hall meetings to show he is in touch with Californians' concerns.
Davis and Clinton were joined Sunday by other prominent Democrats, including Los Angeles Mayor James Hahn and state Attorney General Bill Lockyer.
As Davis and Clinton arrived at the head of the church, the congregation rose and erupted in cheers.
Davis spoke first, saying "powerful forces" in Washington, were trying to divide the country along racial and ethnic lines.
He then introduced Clinton, calling him a true friend.
"Some days, I wake up and wish he were still president," Davis said to loud applause. "He will always be the president for us."
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Pease ping me when you figure it out.
Arnold needs to get serious and release specifics of his economic recovery plan for California, detail his planned spending cuts, take an unequivocal and unambiguous pledge to not raise taxes under any circumstances, support Ward Connerly's Prop54, take a stand opposing affirmation action, commit to sealing the borders, support supply side economics, renounce his support for gay rights, agree to reduce welfare entitlements for deadbeats and illegals, dump Warren Buffet, condemn abortion on demand, drop plans for increased gun controls, support oil drilling off the California coast and support oil exploration/drilling in ANWR. Arnold also needs to step up and join in the debates and stop being an empty suit.
California Republicans and many FReepers are infatuated with Arnold and don't seem to care about the real issues in the recall election race. Pathetic and sad.
Real Issue #1: Remove Gray Davis from Office
Room for "almost" everyone under Pee Wee's and Arnie's new "Big Tent"
I agree.
California Republicans and many FReepers are infatuated with Arnold and don't seem to care about the real issues in the recall election race. Pathetic and sad.
Oh, they care alright. They care that Arnold's the only chance they have of preventing cruz bustamante from becoming California's next governor. What's pathetic and sad are those who don't see that and are willingly abetting the bustamante campaign by supporting mcclinader.
I thought that violated IRS statues on tax-exempt organizations.(which I think includes churches)
Absentee votes continue to be locked away for Tom McClintock, a man that cannot win. At least there's the fact that Schwarzenegger will never get them.
That sums it up. Thanks for your honesty. Now don't go around calling Arnold a conservative Republican anylonger. He's nothing but a liberal RINO and your brief remark makes that crystal clear.
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