Posted on 08/09/2003 3:48:28 AM PDT by kattracks
President Bush jumped into the California recall craziness yesterday and predicted that Arnold Schwarzenegger would make a "good governor."Confessing to being "fascinated" by the struggle to oust Democratic Gov. Gray Davis, Bush joked that he wouldn't want to tangle with Conan the Candidate.
"I will never arm-wrestle Arnold Schwarzenegger," the President said at his Crawford, Tex., ranch. "No matter how hard I try, I'll never lift as much weight as he does."
Until now, he had been reluctant to go near the California confusion or endorse Schwarzenegger, a fellow Republican. But yesterday, Bush sort of did just that.
"I think he'd be a good governor," the President said.
Bush also appeared to be as amazed as the rest of the country by the cast of crazies who want the top job in Sacramento, a group that includes pornographer Larry Flynt, pint-size actor Gary Coleman, a comedian known as Gallagher - and more than 100 other wanna-be governors.
"It's fascinating to see who's in and who's out," Bush said. "You know, I'm a follower of American politics. I find what's going on in the State of California very interesting."
Cocky as ever, Schwarzenegger started off with an early morning TV blitz during which he insisted he is what California needs, but gave no specifics.
No cry for help
Schwarzenegger, a five-time Mr. Universe and multimillionaire who became a Hollywood icon thanks to action movies such as "The Terminator," also said he doesn't need Bush's help to win the Oct. 7 election.
"As far as I'm concerned, we don't need Presidents to come in, we don't need ex-Presidents to come in, we don't need other senators from other states coming in," Schwarzenegger said on the "Fox & Friends" television program.
Later, while campaigning in Los Angeles, he pumped up an already excited crowd.
"I have so much energy, I have so much fire," Schwarzenegger said at the opening ceremonies of the Inner-City Games. "I will be going from home to home to talk to the people of California. I will be going from school to school, knock on doors, meet with business leaders and all that."
When he formally files to run for governor today, Schwarzenegger also will disclose a "statement of economic interests," which should provide an eye-opening look at the superstar's bottom line.
Bush had been gearing up to endorse former Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan when Schwarzenegger shocked the country by declaring his candidacy on "The Tonight Show," Republican sources said.
"Riordan was a slam dunk," a senior Bush political adviser said. "He represented civility in a place where even chaos is out of control, and he had a proven record of accomplishment. But when Arnold got in, we had no choice but to get behind him."
Gov. Pataki also was swept up in the Arnoldmania.
"The governor thinks it's great that Arnold Schwarzenegger is running. ... The governor is looking forward to speaking with him in the days ahead," Pataki spokesman Joe Conway said.
Bush's near endorsement of the Austrian-born actor was a blow to other leading California Republicans such as Bill Simon, who lost to Davis in November, and former baseball commissioner Peter Ueberroth.
Meanwhile, the Democrats were abandoning Davis and trying to persuade popular Sen. Dianne Feinstein to reconsider and run for governor before today's 4 p.m. filing deadline. Party leaders fear their top contenders, Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante and state Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi, are no match for Schwarzenegger.
Originally published on August 9, 2003
Exactly how popular is she? She's a Class-A BS-er. Let her run and let's see how popular she is.
Phew, though it looks like they'd rather he win than have a GOP split vote throw the election to one of the rest of the cast-of-thousands.
Ditto for you, hon. Go ARNOLD Go! Go ARNOLD Go!
He's also sucked all the air out of the room for the Dims.
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