Posted on 11/25/2004 6:52:50 PM PST by wagglebee
If California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger hasn't made up his mind about running for re-election, why will he be in Dallas, Texas raising money for his campaign account?
According to the San Jose Mercury News, Schwarzenegger will be in Dallas next Tuesday to accept an award for public service from former President George H.W. Bush.
While he's at it he'll show up at a small breakfast Wednesday morning where he is expected to pocket $150,000 for his 2006 re-election campaign kitty.
This despite his repeated insistence that he won't make up his mind about running until sometime next spring.
"I have no idea. I don't even think about it," he told CNN's Larry King.
That, however doesn't appear to have stopped him from getting his prospective re-election campaign in good financial shape.
The governor's chief fund-raiser Marty Wilson told the Mercury News that the Texas breakfast fund raiser for the "Schwarzenegger 2006" account doesn't mean that that the governor's political team is gearing up for a re-election.
He appears to have said this with a straight face considering that the Mercury News has reported that Schwarzenegger has raised more than $20 million since taking office, with more than $1 million earmarked to pay for political events, travel and -- until this month -- the $6,000-a-month bill for the governor to bunk at the Hyatt hotel in Sacramento in the absence of a governor's mansion in Sacramento.
As NewsMax.com has reported Arnold and Maria: Still No Home in Sacramento, the hotel bill is now being picked up by a new private foundation established to pay the tab for the governor's Sacramento digs.
Not surprisingly, Democrats don't accept Schwarzenegger's denial that he hasn't decided if he'll run again.
Bill Carrick, a Democratic consultant, told the Mercury News the out-of-state fund raising is just further evidence that Schwarzenegger is getting ready for a re-election bid.
"My sense of this is he's running -- period. I don't care what he says," Carrick said. "His people are all gearing up."
Dallas is an ideal place to raise political campaign contributions, being known for its mix of old money from energy businesses and new money from a growing telecommunications and high-tech industry.
"Business leaders in other states know that for the nation's economy to do well California's economy needs to do well," Wilson told the Mercury News. "Gov. Schwarzenegger certainly has that as his Number One priority."
Despite the money the Dallas contributors are kicking in to the campaign fund, the newspaper noted that not everyone among them is enthralled by Schwarzenegger's moderate political views.
While his economic policies mesh with those of Texas state leaders, he parts ways from them on such social issues such as abortion and gay marriage and has said it would be "fine" with him if voters legalized same-sex marriage at a time when the Texas Legislature is poised to take up a constitutional ban on gay marriage in its upcoming session.
"He'll be welcomed graciously and go home with some money, but as far as the real Republicans are concerned, he'll be held at some arms length," political scientist Cal Jillson of Southern Methodist University in Dallas told the Mercury News. "They'll leave a check, but it doesn't mean their hearts are necessarily in it."
The (reluctant) support he gave Bush was recompense for the support Bush gave him.
A governor whom banned the .50 cal will never win the White House, or my vote.
I don't want him as President any more than you do. But from a pragmatic point of view, a California liberal Republican governor who supports Bush is far better than a liberal 'Rat who doesn't. I would have much rather seen Tom McClintock as governor of California, but I'm not sure he can win the 2006 election.
Arnold deserves credit for trying to revive the GOP in Caleeefornia. I hear the calls for another Reagan but none of the Reagan conservatives have had any success outside of Orange Co and San Diego. The next step is to turn some of the state seats Republican to get a base from which to campaign for Senate and future Gov.
He isn't eligible to run for President.
I agree, Schwarzenegger may be a RINO, but we have to start somewhere.
Amen to that. And considering Schwarzenegger's support for saddling California's debt-ridden economy with ANOTHER $6 billion in debts, it's pretty obvious that he's just another Democrat with an 'R' by his name.
There. Fixed it.
Fair enough.
The real question at this early date is whether or not Arnold will get a primary challenge if he runs. He didn't have to face a primary to win the recall. If a viable alternative runs against Arnold in the primary, I'll vote for the alternative.
Frankly I think he's a disaster. He has a great image, an attractive personality, and a lot of smarts. But movies are one thing and politics are another. He's pro-abortion, pro-fetal-research, pro-homosexual rights, and has done a lousy job with the budget.
He campaigned very sparingly for Bush, and he did little or nothing to bring California toward the Republican side of the ledger.
So, what's the big deal? He's better than Gray Davis, but he's no one I'd ever vote for.
Tom McClintock 2006
McClintock would be my first choice, but the problem is, can he win a statewide election?
I would vote for AHnold for president in a heartbeat over any right winger on social issues. Arnold has practical ideas on fiscal issues and is a social moderate. Suits me just fine.
Plus, he has a backbone and does not girlie men LOL.
Max, my German shepard has a better chance of getting elected governor of California than Tom McClintock. Tom should move to Idaho or Wyoming, his only chance of becoming a governor.
A state as diverse as California or the country as a whole for that matter will never NEVER elect an extremist of the left (Kerry, McGovern, the tank driver etc) or right (Goldwater).
Maybe he's raising money to run against Feinstein's run for the U.S. Senate.
Schwarzy is a liberal and a RINO. Conservatives do not support advancing liberalism, or a policy agenda that is opposed to the GOP party platform. The fact Arnold may suit you just fine, exposes you as a leftwinger. FreeRepublic is a conservative website and doesn't support liberalism of any type.
He deserves nothing. California and the Republican party is better off without him.
Need is irrelevant. Incremental destruction of rights must be opposed vigorously, for it never ends.
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