Posted on 10/28/2004 7:29:17 AM PDT by IndianPrincessOK
Schwarzenegger Says He Won't Travel More for Bush By Adam Tanner, Reuters
SAN FRANCISCO (Oct. 27) - Popular California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said on Wednesday he spurned White House invitations to campaign more widely for President Bush and has agreed to just one joint appearance.
Such aloofness could prove fatal to an ordinary politician. But the Hollywood superstar and former Mr. Universe, a moderate Republican, didn't seem too worried.
"For me it's a balancing act, of course you know, because if I don't campaign for President Bush, the Republicans will be angry. If I campaign for President Bush the Democrats are angry," he told KTKZ radio in Sacramento.
"I think there is a happy medium which I made very clear. I will not go and travel around the country with the president because my work is here."
Schwarzenegger did travel to the Republican National Convention in August on Bush's behalf in his tight race against Democratic challenger, Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry.
But he said he had to draw the line at campaigning more outside California and after considerable hesitation, agreed to just one appearance in Columbus, Ohio, on Friday.
He said he only made his decision on Tuesday.
"We were thinking that we would go and then maybe that we would not go and then we finally decided to go," he told reporters.
Schwarzenegger, a fiscal conservative and social moderate, faces re-election in 2006 in California, a state where Democrats are the dominant party and one that will surely back Kerry.
He came to office through California's unprecedented recall election last year, and has become the party's dominant figure in the nation's most populous state as well as a big draw on the national stage.
Friends say the Austrian-born 57-year-old would ultimately like to be president, and he repeated on Wednesday that he favors a change to the U.S. Constitution to allow foreign-born Americans to be president. Bipartisan support would be necessary for any rare amendment to the Constitution.
Schwarzenegger is married to Maria Shriver, whose uncle was Democratic President John F. Kennedy.
I agree. I think Arnold's visit to Ohio will be a big help there, which is where we need it the most. He can't be seen as overly partisan or he runs the risk of not getting reelected in California. What's more disturbing to me is the way he caved on the budget and his support for Prop. 71, because the $6 billion won't be paid back until after his 2nd term would have ended.
Conservatives need to support and elected conservatives. Liberal Republicans do more harm than good.
I don't think Dubya needs Arnold anyway. There is a mistaken impression that Dubya needs a political prop. He does not. Kerry may need Bubba, but Dubya doesn't need Arnold.
Ohio is the state we really need him in and his presence there will get National media attention so all and all it's a good thing.
The MSM is already irked that he's even going now you're asking them admit that he supports the president???
That would be positive media attention and that's reserved only for Kerry.
Come on you know the drill.
Funny you get more and more negative the deeper we go into the thread ignoring all the reasonable replies are you just trying to incite something?
That's what I've been trying to say as well, but it appears that there are a few too many annoying alarmist here.
It's sad really I usually attribute such a degree of emotional instability to Democrats.
Bush didn't stump for Arnie once when he ran and he wa voted in by many moderates and Democrats while the true-believers in the party supported a different guy.
Your assertions are incorrect.
This is really not that big a deal. I personally think that Columbus is leaning Bush. The real loudmouths around here are the Dims, and it shows how panicked they are. They'll only have the libs on OSU campus going with Kerry. I'm seeing a lot more support for Bush the last few weeks. Besides, Arnold has always loved Columbus. He comes here every year for some big body-building competition, and the media always makes a big deal about it. Ohioans love Arnold, so it will probably just be enough of a boost to ensure a Bush victory. Meanwhile, I hear that Kerry and Bruce Springsteen will be on the OSU campus for a little while today, giving the students a "free" concert just before the election. Ha, ha. My son will be there with his "Kerry Sucks" stickers he made up! Just hope he doesn't get into any trouble while "distributing" them.
I'M SICK OF YOU GUYS BEING MANIPULATED BY THE MEDIA.
Arnold has said ALL ALONG that he would happily help Bush in Ohio, but he can't travel around because of the serious problems we face here in California.
This is a spin piece to look like Arnold is slighting Bush. He is not.
This is the same type of thing the MSM did in the run up to Arnolds STRONG STATEMENT OF SUPPORT FOR BUSH at the Republican convention.
Don't trust the headlines kids!
I'd really love to see some evidence of where Arnold refused Bush's support. hmmmm...?
He has to get back. Too much to take care of in this bungled state of Kalifornia. Afterall, look at who the Lt. Gov is and what the heck he can pull while he is gone.
I have seen nothing to support the comments you've made here.
When did Bush or his team suggest that he come to California and campaign on Schwarzenegger's or Simon's behalf? When was it that they rejected the offer?
As for Simon, I doubt you've be able to convince many that he's the leftist Schwarzenegger is.
Rant? LOL, since when does reciting fact constitute a rant?
In fact, he came out almost bragging about how he didn't need "outside" help, and that he preferred to keep some independence from both political parties.
If I get some time, I'll research the FR archives and see if I can pick up some "proof" for you there.
Real team player, there.
As for this question of yours: "When did Bush or his team suggest that he come to California and campaign on Schwarzenegger's or Simon's behalf," again what the heck are you talking about? I never said any such thing. Quite the opposite. I said that Arnold did not want WH help during the recall election.
I think you got your signals crossed somewhere.
That's what I figured. Look, when a candidate makes a comment in public about not wanting support, consider it a CYA exercise developed when they realized they wouldn't get it in the first place.
I didn't intimate that you thought Simon was a liberal. I sought to comment on the fact that Bush didn't support him even though he wasn't one.
If a democrat were running for office in California, do you think Clinton would have passed up a chance to support them? Well, he didn't while in office and I lament the fact that our guy doesn't do that. Take it for what it's worth.
Later.
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