The Terminator announced this afternoon he may run for Governor of
California.  I don't follow politics closely, and have no political
leanings (other than my Libertarian desire to avoid seatbelts and
speed limits).

Is Schwarzenegger qualified?  Has he ever held office before?
Friends in government already?  Skeletons in the closet?

A 5-star answer would be 2-3 paragraphs on whether this is a publicity
stunt for his new movie, or whether he might actually be electable to
public office.

All comments from any political perspective appreciated.
Thanks!   

ron

Hi, Ron ...

The suggestion that Arnold run for Governor of California has been
around for the last four or five years. It was assumed that if he did
run for governor of California, it would be in 2006.

Schwarzenegger, 55, has made no secret of his interest in running if a
more qualified candidate didn't present himself as a viable candidate
for the office. With democratic governor, Gray Davis, facing a recall,
Arnold may have the opportunity to run before the projected 2006 date.

Arnold will be on the cover of the new Esquire Magazine which hits the
newsstands on June 13th, and he is quoted as saying, "Yes, I would
love to be governor of California. ... If the state needs me, and if
there's no one I think is better, then I will run."

Arnold hasn't held office, but is no stranger to politics. His wife,
Maria Shriver, is the daughter of Sargent Shriver and Eunice Kennedy.
Arnold, a Republican, was appointed by Bush Senior as chairman of the
president's council on physical fitness and sports, and is well liked
by the present Bush administration.

In an interview in this week's TV Guide, Arnold admitted he is
thinking of running but would wait until after the release of
Terminator 3 and after talking with his family about running for
office.

As for skeletons in the closet: to date nothing major has come to the
fore what would preclude his running for the office.

Some online links on Google News with links to the story can be found
here:
  Canadian TV (from Associated Press)
   - http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/1054839283912_26/?hub=Entertainment

  San Francisco Chronicle
   - http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/archive/2003/06/05/state1305EDT0070.DTL

Search Techniques - Google News
 - Arnold Schwarzenneger
 - Arnold Schwarzenneger + politics


To paraphrase, politics make strange bedfellows.

Regards,
Serenata

Sorry for the delay in rating.  I've been out of town.
Terrific answer.  Thank you !   ron

Appears to be for real, Ron.

And how could he be less qualified than Jesse "the body" Ventura? Or
Ronald Reagan, for that matter?

This is the state where anything can happen and usually does. He is
defintely more charasmatic than Gray Davis.

-=clouseau=-

http://www.mortalwombat.com/Image/Arnold.gif

That's too funny pink.  Be cautious, however-- Arnie doesn't like his
image being used without permission. =)

http://www.news24.com/News24/Backpage/HotGossip/0,,2-1343-1344_1310656,00.html

Schwarzenegger did use steroids as a professional bodybuilder in the
`70s, although of course he is against drugs now.

Political opponents could get a big laugh out of Schwarzenegger's
discussion of orgasm frequency in "Pumping Iron," the 1977
bodybuilding documentary that featured Schwarzenegger.

Schwarzenegger's father was a Nazi and arguably a war criminal.
Schwarzenegger also invited ex-Nazi Kurt Waldheim to his wedding,
according to The Jerusalem Post. However, Schwarzenegger is no
anti-Semite -- he has visited Israel, played in a klezmer band, even
learned some Hebrew.

The only federal candidate to which Schwarzenegger has contributed
money is brother-in-law Mark Shriver, who lost a congressional primary
last year.

Schwarzenegger was a major financial and vocal supporter of Prop 49,
the successful (and very un-Republican) initiative to require the
state to set aside money for after-school programs.

clouseau, respree, pinkfreud, mwalcoff------thank you all so much.  
I really appreciate your comments !   ron