I am by no means a fan of Schwarzenegger’s, either his acting or his politics, but I do have to note that he’s not “an actor trying to be a politician” – he’s been active in Republican politics for over 20 years in the low-key support level. When Conan was the role he was most noted for, there were jokes about “Conan the Republican” going around.
Don’t underestimate the man’s abilities on the basis of his accent or his memory – ad libbing at a press conference or other media-covered event is a tough thing to do, and something you know quite well can easily escape you under pressure.
Schwarzenegger does show up around election time (at least he did on the last one) pushing certain issues, and i remember him campaigning for Bush 1.0 back in '88 ("Micheal Dukakas will be the real terminator…). But besides being married to a Kennedey i don’t see what real leadership qualities he has.
Uh, Mike Farrell for years was under the “spell” of Ramptha (the “channeler”), even hosting a special about captured aliens, whose favorite food was strawberry ice cream. He may have finally wised up about the whole thing, but he’s not exactly what I’d call “respectable.”
As for Arnold as governor, he’ll do the same kind of job as any other asshole in the office would do.
Well, the “tea party” was really more of a protest against the Townshend Act. There was a fear that the cheap tea would encourage the populations to end boycotts against British made goods.
And for anyone who thinks, btw, that laws have gotten more confusingly written, here’s a copy of the act, to show that they could give you a headache 230 years ago too
Actually, I think we can call Arnie unfunny on the basis of Jingle All The Way and Kindergarden Cop, but that’s me.
I personally don’t have an opinion of Schwarzenegger as a political leader in any way, since I have not yet versed myself on his positions. I’m just busy being amused watching the backpedaling from conservatives who were shouting “celebrities should stay out of politics!” three months ago…
Re:Arnold. So because he’s an actor we should dicredit his political views? You’re the same people putting so much stock in Sarandon, Robbins, Baldwin, Streisand, Shaloub, ad nauseum.
How many fulfilled their promise to leave the country after bush’s election.
BTW, why should Grey-out Davis be in power if the state’s economy is so bad?
I disagree with you on the last part. There has not really been any pedaling whatsoever. So far no one is taking it all that seriously, you may see something when the guy actually announces something substantial. Also, no conservatives have ever said that “celebrities should stay out of politics”. What they have said is that celebrity does not automaticaly make one a legitimate source of political views, so the twits who think that because they are on the cover of People they now should tell us what they think about the ozone layer need to shut up.
One thing about Arnold is that he is NOT stupid. In fact, he is very smart. He has a degree in business and international economics. Because he’s big and speaks with a thick accent people just assume he’s a dumb bodybuilder. In fact, most people who know him say he is very, very intelligent.
What leadership qualities would you be able to determine in him from a carefully crafted film persona? What leadership qualities could be seen in Ronald Reagan when he was doing Bedtime for Bonzo?
And what leadership qualities does Grey Davis have? Besides being able to run against Bill (watch me screw myself) Simon? I’m a Democrat, and I signed the petition for his recall. Arnold could hardly do any worse. (although I would rather see former LA mayor Richard Riordan, Rebublican)
[sub]I thought the recall pun was pretty good[/sub]
I’m a Democrat, too, and although I didn’t (and won’t) sign the petition for his recall I probably would have voted for Riordan in preference to Davis if the Republicans had been wise enough to nominate him instead of Bill Simon.
As to Arnold, I don’t know enough about his take on California issues to make a decision yet. My Democrat registration doesn’t necessarily preclude my voting for a Republican. His current profession has nothing to do with his ability and leadership. I’ve been an actor, too (nobody you ever heard of), and I don’t believe actors are necessarily dumber as a class than any other group. You can decide for yourself whether my posts up to now reflect well or ill on my intelligence. But if it’s ill, please don’t say so.
Actors can do stuff besides act, as in the Reagan and Screen Actors guild presidency someone mentioned. I don’t know if Schwartenegger has done diddly squat leadershipwise. and Bedtime for Bonzo sucked. I prefered him in that movie where he killed people.
I did sign the petition for not recalling Davis (it will cost us lots of money which is bad because this state is broke), because the Pubs had their chance and blew it, going with moron corrupt guy who was being investigated during the election and somehow lost to that idiot Davis. But since Republicans aren’t content to let people with the most votes win the elections…
I haven’t heard anything about this. What I have heard is Farrell’s work against the death penalty, and while I disagree with his position I have yet to hear him come across as loopy or uninformed.
Well, it’s not like it’s something that he wants known now, but at one time he was pretty firmly in her clutches. And I’ve seen the captured alien special that Farrell hosted, it was pretty awful.
None of this means that he isn’t capable of making rational decisions now, but were Farrell to attempt to run for office, you can bet that folks would be dragging those things out.
I’m sorry, but what does any of that have to do with his potential success at politics?
I don’t think the fact that he’s an actor should stand in his way, I just think the whole recall thing is idiotic. We can’t afford it and we put Davis back in office, so now we’re going to spend millions of dollars to kick him out because we don’t like him? Gee, maybe the idiot Republicans should’ve put someone halfway decent on the ballot instead of pushing some lame ass half baked “solution” that’s going to cost California millions of dollars that it desperately needs. We’re looking for a scapegoat and no one wants to accept the fact that even if Davis gets thrown out of office, our problems aren’t going to dissapear overnight. We’re just going to be digging ourselves into a deeper financial hole. Some “solution.”
How do you know that’s what they think? Are reublican pundits telling me what I should think? Or are they just expressing their veiws?
Alec Baldwin has a right to talk about what ever views he has. And because he is famous, some people actually write down what he says and print it for distribution.
Get this! Sometimes people ask him to come and share his views!
He and his ‘ilk’ are not trying to ‘tell you what to think’ anymore than you are trying to tell me what to think.
It’s a good thing I read down the thread before jumping in.