Vodkapundit - Questions of Character

Questions of Character

Posted by Stephen Green · 3 September 2003

I just don't know if Arnold has what it takes to succeed in politics.

Oh, he could very well win the recall election -- although I refuse just yet to predict who is going to win that mess. He's got name recognition, he's got money, he's got loads of charisma, and most importantly, he has an electorate well and truly sick of the status quo.

But does he have the thick hide needed for the rough'n'tumble of life in Sacramento?

So far, it seems not.

Last week, Micky Kaus broke the story of Arnold's 1977 interview in Oui magazine. In it, he discussed pot smoking, group sex as a "release" from the pressures of competitive bodybuilding, etc. None of it was surprising, but it wasn't exactly flattering, either. Arnold's first response was, "I didn't lead my life to be a politician."

Perfect. Really, that's all he needed to say. But the media did what the media does: they kept peppering him with questions until, finally, he snapped at a reporter. I don't have an exact quote, but the obviously flustered candidate barked something like "Look, I don't remember anything about what I said 20 or 30 years ago." And, yeah, he said it in front of a TV camera.

Hardly damning stuff, and not nearly bad enough to derail his election big. But it is indicative.

Now comes word that Arnold won't participate in the upcoming gubernatorial debates:

Five leading candidates vying to replace California Gov. Gray Davis in the state's recall election will participate in the first official public debate Wednesday.
Arnold Schwarzenegger will not participate.

So far, no big deal – frontrunners often skip out on debates. They have much to lose and little to gain. But then there's this:

He has said he will participate in a September 24 debate that will provide questions in advance.

Ah.

The gentle way to read this is that Arnold is simply unready for a six-way, unscripted debate. That's understandable, considering he's only been a candidate for a few weeks, but less understandable when he's obviously been considering a run for at least a couple of years now.

If you're inclined to be less charitable, you could take this to mean that Arnold wants to gain the advantage of appearing in a debate, but doesn't want the risk of sounding like, well, yet another Hollywood type getting in over his head.

Or, if you think he's too thin-skinned for politics, maybe you think his handlers don't want him doing anything unscripted – the Terminator might blow a gasket.

Honestly, I don't know which way to read this. I had hopes that Arnold wasn't another Jesse Ventura, but now I'm not so certain.

Comments

Well, he's not another Jesse Ventura, only bevause he has more actual political convictions than Jesse ever had, but I do fear that you are right, that Arnold is looking for more of an "Audition" than a debate. The good news is (and yes, there is good news) that, if elected, since he has no experience in "government", he will be just sitting back in his chair in Sacramento, letting all of the little gov't agencies under him do their jobs without him getting in the way.

Honestly, that's the problem that Davis has created. I know someone who works in the California gov't machine (family member), and he says that Davis has put his nose into every little thing, and won't let anything get done without his knowing about it more so than any other governer before him. And this is over 30 years of experience talking.

So, I don't have a problem with Arnold taking over out there, except that, if he does "do nothing", and it works, he might try to run for president.

Posted by: Rob Dunn at September 3, 2003 02:06 PM

Why should he participate in politics as usual? Or even reporting as usual?

Screw the press.

Read Jessie Venturas op/ed in the LA times for a diffrent perspective.

Posted by: Ryan at September 3, 2003 02:06 PM

Rob: as the Constitution currently stands, the President must be born a citizen. It wouldn't matter how well Arnie does or does not run California; he can't get in the White House without a Constitutional Amendment.

Posted by: Andrew Duncalfe at September 3, 2003 02:15 PM

Having done some debate preparation, I can tell you for absolute certain that political debating skills have no basis in actually being a good officeholder.

Almost anyone can be trained to debate well; it's a skill, like anything else, it just takes time. If you think, yourself, that you might be able to do well, just pick a question - take one from the news - and actually time yourself, and see what you do with 30 seconds. Refine answers to about 20 questions, perfect a 30-second delivery, stretch any question into the question you really want to answer.

Arnie faces a problem, though, because the people have a very high expectation of him. He'll deliver to that expectation in prepared events and commercials, but delivering in a debate is almost something else entirely.

In one of his first impromptu campaign moments, he disrespected Bustamante, saying the guy was Davis with a receding hairline. Bad candidate, Arnie: you just lost a lot of voters with receding hairlines.

Posted by: Undertoad at September 3, 2003 03:09 PM

Hillary gets the questions in advance even for Letterman's show. Why the double standard?

Posted by: erp at September 3, 2003 04:13 PM

Arnold needs to be true to himself and refuse to be defensive about his past. Keep his responses similar to his "I didn't lead my life to be a politician." answer. people will appreciate candor.

BUUUUUUTTTT, He has to drop the nonstop references to his movies. They cheapen his campaign. There's nothing worse than somebody who keeps telling you the same joke over and over and over...

Posted by: bruceb at September 3, 2003 05:14 PM

Steve: Like you, I'm very much torn on Ahnuld and have my doubts. I'd be debating up and down the state if I were him. But check out Dan Weintraub's excellent blog at Sac Bee for defense of advertising the debate questions.

Posted by: Lloyd at September 3, 2003 05:56 PM

At first I thought that was a typo and you meant to say "had hopes that Arnold WAS another Jesse Ventura"...

But then again I thought Ventura was an example of the sprouting of what our political system needed: a swift kick in the ass.

Posted by: b psycho at September 3, 2003 07:28 PM

Oooops, forgot all about that. DUH! Thanks for pointing that out, Andrew.

Posted by: Rob Dunn at September 3, 2003 07:34 PM