LOS ANGELES (AP) The man at the San Francisco news conference
spoke with the deep voice, the thick Austrian accent, the bravado
of Arnold Schwarzenegger.
But it wasn't. It was comedian Dana Carvey.
It says a lot about ``The Terminator's'' bid for governor of the
nation's most populated state that the appearance by a comic
impersonator at a Schwarzenegger event was perfectly in keeping
with the campaign's logic.
Not that everyone appreciated it. ``Is this a campaign or a
circus?'' one British reporter shouted in annoyance.
The answer was yes it was a bit of both. But more than
anything, it was successful.
In the 62 days between his coming out on ``The Tonight Show With
Jay Leno'' and election day, Arnold Schwarzenegger confected a
vision of hope as bright as a Hollywood movie and spun it directly
to voters via Leno, Oprah Winfrey and Larry King.
He harnessed his massive celebrity to Californians' desire for
change, and the result was a political tidal wave that swept a
sitting governor out of office for only the second time in American
history. His first run for elective office left the mainstream news
media and many of the conventions of political campaigning in its
wake.
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``The mass wants to hear one thing and wants to see one thing:
Do I trust this guy?'' Schwarzenegger told The Associated Press in
an interview during the campaign. ``Everyone in Sacramento will
have more details than I have, but I know exactly what needs to be
done.''
Running to replace Democratic Gov. Gray Davis, a colorless and
highly unpopular policy wonk, Schwarzenegger campaigned on sunny
but vague promises to turn California's economy around, bring back
jobs and ``terminate'' business as usual in Sacramento.
At the same news conference interrupted by Carvey,
Schwarzenegger denounced Davis for denouncing him for ducking
serious questioning.
The fact is, Schwarzenegger participated in only one debate and
limited himself mostly to brief interviews with political reporters
and controlled encounters with friendly voters. He relied on help
from famous friends like Leno and Winfrey to a degree that irked
his opponents.
Most of all, the actor's own self-confidence and charisma
carried him through. He'd spent his whole life selling one product
himself and politics was no different, he said.
Not many other candidates, even celebrities or those who label
themselves as outsiders, would be able to pull it off.
``He starts with one of the highest profiles on Earth and the
novelty of being who he is ``The Terminator'', the big movie star
and add that to a situation which is by itself theatrical,'' said
Marty Kaplan, director of the University of Southern California's
Norman Lear Center, which studies the intersection of entertainment
and politics.
``It was made in heaven for someone like him.''
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Still, it did not go smoothly from the start.
When Schwarzenegger announced his candidacy Aug. 6 on ``The
Tonight Show,'' he told America running for governor was the
toughest decision he'd made since getting a bikini wax in 1978.
Backstage, chief strategist George Gorton was holding a printed
statement the one he thought Schwarzenegger was following
announcing that he was opting out of the race. Gorton, like all of
Schwarzenegger's closest advisers, was stunned.
They were caught so flat-footed that they didn't have office
space, letterhead or a cohesive strategy for the campaign's first
days.
An exhausted Schwarzenegger got off to a weak start on several
morning shows two days after announcing, giving vague answers to
questions. He also fumbled with a faulty earpiece during an
interview with Matt Lauer, leaving the impression he was avoiding
tough questions.
His campaign enlisted high-profile surrogates and advisers, but
they caused more problems.
Former Republican Gov. Pete Wilson disclosed that Schwarzenegger
had supported Proposition 187, the controversial 1994 measure that
sought to deny services to illegal immigrants. Billionaire investor
Warren Buffett criticized Proposition 13, California's sacrosanct
1978 initiative that cut and then limited property taxes.
Both men quickly disappeared from view.
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In spite of the gaffes, the surprise announcement had a
bombshell effect, and Schwarzenegger sucked up the spotlight from
that moment forward.
He gave his first interview as a candidate to ``Access
Hollywood'' and later shared a couch with his wife, Maria Shriver,
on Winfrey's show. He went on Howard Stern's syndicated radio show,
and when other candidates met in Hollywood for one of several
debates that Schwarzenegger skipped he was literally a block away,
giving an interview to Larry King at CNN's studios.
``A lot of thought was given to the idea that we had the ability
to expand upon the traditional outlets that tend to cover politics
and take our message directly to a segment of the population that
frankly isn't the 'Meet the Press' crowd,'' Schwarzenegger campaign
spokesman Todd Harris told reporters the day after the election.
``Because of who our candidate was, we could take advantage of
that.''
Schwarzenegger's opponents were left to look on as huge packs of
reporters followed the actor everywhere he went. They protested in
vain over the actor's refusal to debate more than once. And they
paled beside him he was Technicolor, they were black and white.
Situations that would have rattled less-confident candidates
Schwarzenegger turned to his advantage. Egged by a protester in
Long Beach, he laughed it off with a joke that was replayed for the
next several days: ``This guy owes me bacon now.''
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At the one debate he attended, Schwarzenegger sparred
aggressively with independent candidate Arianna Huffington and
limited himself mostly to generalities and one-liners, a
performance his own advisers graded as mediocre.
But apparently it was good enough. He shot up in the polls
afterward.
The last test came as Schwarzenegger was about to set out on a
final campaign push in a chartered bus dubbed ``Running Man''
after one of his movies and splashed with a huge picture of his
face. That morning, the Los Angeles Times published allegations he
had groped women.
Schwarzenegger admitted he had ``behaved badly sometimes,'' but
with Shriver a fixture at his side he quickly recovered. Many
supporters dismissed the allegations or chalked them up to his
Hollywood background an explanation few other politicians could
have carried off.
``He can grope me!'' one woman shouted at a campaign stop in
Santa Clarita.
Dozens of protesters waved sign labeling him ``predator'' or
``the gropenator,'' but because special VIP wristbands were
required to get near the stage, his critics were forced to the
fringes and never got within camera range of the candidate.
Finally, at a rally at the state Capitol on the last day of his
bus tour, Schwarzenegger took the stage with Twisted Sister singer
Dee Snider, whose song ``We're Not Gonna Take It'' was the
campaign's anthem.
The actor grabbed a guitar and pretended to play along with
Snider. No one seemed to care that he was faking it.
(Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)