McClintock Calls on Schwarzenegger to Resign If Charges Prove True

KXTV Sacramento Channel 10 ^ | October 5, 2003 | KXTV

[Recourse]

McClintock Calls on Schwarzenegger to Resign If Charges Prove True

State Senator Tom McClintock called on Arnold Schwarzenegger to withdraw from the race for governor if allegations of improper sexual advances prove to be true.

Asked by reporters what he would tell Schwarzenegger, McClintock said, "If those allegations are true, you should drop out of the race."

McClintock was careful not to condemn Schwarzenegger out of hand, but made his feelings on the issue clear. "If the allegations are true, and again coming as late as they are, I believe they need to be treated with great skepticism, that conduct is reprehensible," he said.

He went on to tell reporters that if the charges are proven, Schwarzenegger does not deserve to occupy the governor's office. "As the father of a 13-year-old daughter, I would have a great deal of trouble accepting that that kind of conduct has been elevated to the highest office in the state," he said.

The potential scandal hovering over Schwarzenegger could provide an unexpected boost for McClintock's campaign. The conservative state senator is current lagging well behind both Schwarzenegger and Democrat Cruz Bustamante in the polls.

[EternalVigilance]

Grumpy, eh?

No, I just don't appreciate busybodies who presume to know what I should do with my time or my family.

[FairOpinion]

Obviously the stories aren't true.

IF they had been true, they would have printed them weeks ago and hammered on them for the last 4 weeks of the campaign, not the last 4 days. The reason for the last minute smear is exactly, that upon closer examination they would all fall apart.

Here is one example -- where eyewitnesses debunked that accuser's account -- it was even printed in the original LAT article: both the accusation and the eyewitness account showing the accusations to be untrue.

====

Richardson said she was interviewing the actor in December 2000 as part of his promotional tour for the movie "The Sixth Day." The interview, to be aired on her TV show "Big Screen," took place in a suite at the Dorchester Hotel in London.

Richardson said she had interviewed Schwarzenegger on previous occasions and that he had been a "perfect gentleman."

"This time around was quite different," she recalled. "He kept looking at my breasts, kept asking if I worked out," she said. "I went to shake his hand and he grabbed me onto his knee and he said, 'Before you go, I want to know if your breasts are real.' "

Richardson, then 29, said she replied that her breasts were real. She said she looked around for help from other people in the room, but nobody came to her assistance. "At that point, he circled my left nipple with his finger and he said, 'Yes, they are real.' " She said he then let her go.

The Schwarzenegger campaign provided a different account.

Sheryl Main, a Hollywood publicist who has worked with Schwarzenegger on many films and accompanied him on his worldwide travels since 1995, said she was present at the interview with Richardson. Main said it was Richardson who provocatively approached Schwarzenegger. She said that after finishing the brief interview, Richardson rose, cupped her right breast in her right hand and said, "What do you think of these?" She then sat on his lap and was immediately escorted from the room, Main said.

She contends that Richardson later concocted her story.

http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/recall/la-me-women2oct02,1,2313555.story?coll=la-home-headlines

[The Westerner]

He does not look like a nice man up close and personal. I was a big supporter, but I agree with you now. Talk about character issues!

[EternalVigilance]

If he ever runs for statewide office again, he won't get my vote.

Same here. Tom blew it.

Who do you guys think you're kidding?

[CheneyChick]

[deport]

And the beat goes on........ or so it seems.....

• Arnold Schwarzenegger’s massive rally on the south side of the state Capitol, the climax of his four-day bus tour of California, provided just what the Los Angeles Times editorial board must fear. It was a dramatic demonstration of how a powerful celebrity can channel populist anger, creating a political experience unmediated by elites. While Schwarzenegger for the most part struck a positive, upbeat tone Sunday afternoon, declining to attack his principal antagonists -- Gray Davis, Cruz Bustamante, and the Times -- the disdain for the political class underlying his message was palpable.

• Some 10,000 people attended, twice as many as last year’s farmworkers march on the Capitol, the only comparable rally in recent years.

• In contrast, Davis drew only a few hundred supporters to his big rally Saturday at the Teamsters’ hall in Oakland, despite the presence of the governor, the state’s two U.S. senators, Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer, and Willie Brown and Jerry Brown, making a rare appearance on behalf of his former chief of staff.

• In the midst of the tumult of charges against Schwarzenegger, a welter of conflicting poll numbers are being bandied about. The Schwarzenegger and Republican camps, which are not exactly the same thing, insist that their polls show steady and large support for both the recall and Schwarzenegger.

• Team Gray says the recall is falling and Schwarzenegger is fading, though one key member of that team says Schwarzenegger will still win the replacement ballot. A new Knight-Ridder poll still shows big support for the recall and a solid Schwarzenegger lead. But the Friday night portion of that poll reportedly showed much closer results. Of course, Friday night is a notoriously bad night for polling, as younger voters, who in this election largely disdain Davis and back Schwarzenegger, have better things to do than talk to pollsters.

• The prison guards were huge players and the biggest contributor in Republican Pete Wilson’s 1994 win. They played the same role for Davis in 1998. In the recall, they have pulled their punches, perhaps because Schwarzenegger spent three hours signing autographs at their convention last year. And perhaps because they believe there will be a new sheriff in town. Indeed, even reporters who are writing that Schwarzenegger is in serious trouble say they expect him to win.

• And so we move forward to the final two days of the election. Sunday night tracking polls should be even more interesting than those taken on Friday and Sunday, given their more reliable samples.

• CHIN UP

[FairOpinion]

Sure, he is grumpy. Davis is losing, isn't he? ;)

[Az Joe]

Oh yeah, Davis and Bustamonte are just mad that nobody wants them to "sexually harrass" them.

[Skip Ripley]

Right...Arnold chasing broads in Hollywood is exactly the same thing as the President getting blown in the Oval Office.

Of course, getting a bj in the Oval Office isn't impeachable, it's just tacky....

[Mad_Tom_Rackham]

Nice pic.

I'm surprised that the infamous unbiased liberal press didn't run this one:

Just like they NEVER mention either Tom's positions OR Arnold by name (they call him "Actor").

I hope everybody understands that if we ever get "Insane McCain's) CFR, the ONLY political news we will hear will be that provided ny these fanatics.

[thoughtomator]

Who are these guys kidding? They've been trashing McClintock for months and now all of a sudden they remember Reagan's "11th Commandment"?

I don't think conservatives have anything in common with the Arnold camp any longer.

[CheneyChick]

I hate to see how they are going to be reacting on Wednesday.

[fabian]

Arnold apologized and the improper acts were years ago. Everyone has plenty of sins in their past that they are ashamed of.

[beckett]

...you're gonna have to try and punish a pretty large bloc of the CA GOP

I don't care if him and his entire "bloc" break off from the mainland and go drifting off into the Pacific. Good riddance to you all.

I have never seen a bigger collection of morons in my life.

[PRND21]

Kidding? He will never get my vote. That's a fact.
Not that it matters, he's a proven loser. This will make three straight state wide losses, right?

Belly ache all you want. Tom's stance has cost him potential future votes.

[Hillary's Lovely Legs]

" Tom, you have jumped on to the Davis Slime Machine. You could have kept your lipless mouth shut, but you had to prove that you are a classless weasel. There is no part for you in the Republican party. Tuesday can't come soon enough."

[P-Marlowe]

I'm sure there's a lot of dirt on McClintock. There's dirt on all of us. They smeared Simon and if Arnold were to drop out, I'm sure they'd produce McClintock's love child within an hour and they'd have 50 women saying that he abused them when he was in High school and the reason he's crosseyed is that one of the slapped him silly after he touched her improperly.

[Sabertooth]

McClintock was careful not to condemn Schwarzenegger out of hand, but made his feelings on the issue clear. "If the allegations are true, and again coming as late as they are, I believe they need to be treated with great skepticism, that conduct is reprehensible," he said.

The headline and the resultant hoo hah are over the top.

McClintock is a Republican who was responding to a question. This "controversy" is as ginned up as the charges against Scharzenegger appear to be.

McClintock is saying that he is skeptical of the charges that Schwarzenegger is a serial groper, but if they are, that Arnold should drop out.

My guess is that's the position of quite a few reasonable people, myself included.

Do any of us want to vote for a serial groper?

Like McClintock, though, I'm skeptical of the smear attempts against Schwarzenegger. At this point, I don't think the charges should affect anyone's vote, other than to make them more certain than ever to vote to recall Davis.

[Hildy]

I agree.

[P-Marlowe]

Bump to the gipper!