Schwarzenegger Hit by Egg at Speech

TheNYTimes ^ | September 3, 2003 | AP

[Pan_Yans Wife]

Arnold Schwarzenegger skipped the initial debate of California's recall election Wednesday and delivered what was billed as his first major campaign speech, getting pelted with an egg as he waded through a crowd at a college campus.

Unfazed when the egg hit his left shoulder, the action hero peeled off his coat and went ahead with a 15-minute speech in which he asserted that he is running for governor to give something back to a state responsible for his success.

``You have such a fantastic life, Arnold, you make millions of dollars to do movies and all those kinds of things, why do you want to do this?'' Schwarzenegger asked rhetorically.

``And you know something, because everything that I've gotten -- my career, my money, my family -- everything that I've gotten and achieved is because of California,'' he said to cheers at California State University, Long Beach.

Schwarzenegger said he wasn't bothered by the egging. ``This guy owes me bacon now,'' he joked later. ``I mean there's no two ways about it because, I mean, you can't just have eggs without bacon. But this is all part of, you know, the free speech.''

Several opponents from La Raza Student Association heckled Schwarzenegger at the speech for his past support of Proposition 187, which sought to deny services to illegal immigrants. They held a sign saying ``Hasta la vista Latinos,'' but supporters drowned out the hecklers with chants of ``Arnold, Arnold, Arnold.''

Schwarzenegger's address came hours before the debate that featured five other candidates in the race to recall Democratic Gov. Gray Davis, who was given 30 minutes at the outset to make his case. Schwarzenegger, a Republican, did not attend and has agreed to participate in only one debate, on Sept. 24.

Political observers say Schwarzenegger's absence in the first debate could hurt him.

``He's going to get beaten up for a while'' for skipping the debate, said GOP strategist Allan Hoffenblum. ``It's not that he's not going to debate, but he's going to do it at his own time.''

Schwarzenegger broke no new ground in his speech. He criticized politicians for overspending, vowed to reform workers' compensation, promised to prioritize children's issues and said he would work well with Democrats because he's married to one -- Kennedy relative Maria Shriver. The themes were familiar from his comments at past campaign events and on radio talk shows.

``I'm not beholden to anyone,'' Schwarzenegger said.

Talking to reporters afterward, Schwarzenegger was questioned about his decision to opt out of the debate. He stressed the importance of going up and down the state to get the views of Californians from many walks of life.

``One of my favorite things to do is stand there with people and debate over the issues and then let the people decide,'' he said.

[Waco]

Family feud among the "eggers"?

[isthisnickcool]

Several opponents from La Raza Student Association heckled Schwarzenegger at the speech for his past support of Proposition 187, which sought to deny services to illegal immigrants. They held a sign saying ``Hasta la vista Latinos''

Mexican-Americans? Nah. Fake-Americans hell bent on taking back what's "theirs". California, Texas, etc.

[cyborg]

Whoever threw the egg was a coward. They should have pied his face like that nutty dude that pied Bill Gates. Good for Arnold that he didn't let the Davis-Bustedface brigade get to him.

[Paul Atreides]

Just another example of the tolerant left.

[pogo101]

"Dott guy owess me some bakon nau." Good; shows unflappability, aplomb. A lot of folks said he'd crack when, instead of adulation and softballs (as on a movie promo junket), he actually faced a sizeable number of hostile people.

Only problem I see in that response is this: THOSE COLLEGE PROTESTERS ARE WACK-JOBS AND WILL THROW BACON NEXT TIME.

[Pan_Yans Wife]

Better bacon than frying pans.

[SoCal Pubbie]

I just saw the video on a news promo. Arnold didn't miss a beat! As a graduate of Cal State Long Beach, I apologize to Arnold for this embarrassment, although it probably wasn't even a student who did it!

[Trajan88]

Did the egg-throwing dude get caught?

Such cowards need to be caught, especially by the Terminator, and be slapped with a quick elbow to the bridge of the nose (but alas... some bleeding heart lib lawyer would take over and ruin the day).

Trajan88

[jaz.357]

Arnold for GUVONOIR!

[chemicalman]

OMG...PETA would have a fit!

[OmegaMan]

That was a great response by Arnold; he turned a negative into a positive...probably picked up a few hundred votes.

[Cultural Jihad]

Did the egg-throwing dude get caught?

Apparently not, at least not that I've heard yet. I would imagine the local DA is investigating the egging, since it is an assault.

[Pan_Yans Wife]

If Arnold wasn't running for governor, the person never would have had the guts to throw the egg at him. Would you want to make Arnold angry, under normal circumstances?

[vpintheak]

How many DimRats have had eggs or other things tossed at them? Just shows what kind of 2 faced liars the left is. Arnolds comeback was great. I probably would have ran into the crowd to kick the losers butt.

[DoctorZIn]

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[Saundra Duffy]

I'm voting for McClintock but I sure don't like Arnold getting pelted with that egg.

[Rudder]

"You have such a fantastic life, Arnold..."

"Is this guy taking speech lessons from Bob Dole?" (Bob Dole)

[csvset]

"Ha-ha! It's all a big yolk."

I'm not sure what he said.

[putupon]