GOVERNATOR ARNIE
On August 6th, 2003, the audience attending the Tonight Show
received a direct witnessing of an historic, jaw-dropping occasion: the
announcement of candidacy for the California governorship by former
bodybuilder and current movie star Arnold Schwarzenegger. Mr.
Schwarzenegger ("Arnie" as the media likes to call him) smiled for the
camera, waved a massive American flag, and gave what amounted to a full-on
political speech, peppering it with catchphrases from his
blockbuster hits. It had been known since the 1990s that Schwarzenegger was interested in
public office. Regarding a run for public office, in 1999,
he told Talk magazine that "I think about it many times." He also
said, "The possibility is there because I feel it inside. I feel there are
a lot of people standing still and not doing enough. And there\'s a
vacuum." Venturing into politics
Schwarzenegger was appointed Chairman of the President\'s Council on
Physical Fitness and Sports in the administration of George H. W. Bush
from 1990 to 1993. During that time, Schwarzenegger traveled across the
U.S. promoting physical fitness to kids and lobbying all 50 governors in
support of school fitness programs. He later served as Chairman for the
California Governor\'s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports.
Schwarzenegger scored his first real political success on November
5, 2002, when Californians approved his personally crafted and
sponsored Proposition 49, the "After School Education and Safety Program
Act of 2002", an initiative to make state grants available for
after-school programs. 2003 California recall
For years, Schwarzenegger had discussed with friends, potential donors,
advisors and political allies a possible run for high political office. As a candidate in the recall election, Schwarzenegger had the most name
recognition in a crowded field of candidates, but he had never held public
office and his political views were unknown to most Californians. His
candidacy was immediate national and international news, with media
outlets dubbing him the "Governator" and "The Running Man", and calling
the recall election "Total Recall" and "Terminator 4: Rise of the
Candidate". Schwarzenegger was quick to make use of his well-known
one-liners, promising to "pump up Sacramento, California" (the
state capital) and tell Gray Davis hasta la vista. At the end of
his first press conference, he told the audience "I\'ll be back."
Schwarzenegger looked to follow in the footsteps of former California
governor and one-time movie star Ronald Reagan. In the day of his inaugurated, Schwarzenegger spoke briefly: "Today is
a new day in California. I did not seek this office to do things the way
they\'ve always been done. What I care about is restoring your confidence
in your government... This election was not about replacing one man. It
was not replacing one party. It was about changing the entire political
climate of our state." Governorship
In his first few hours in office Schwarzenegger fulfilled his campaign
promise to repeal an unpopular 200% increase in vehicle license
fees undertaken to fund the state\'s budget. On his first full day in
office, Schwarzenegger proposed a three-point plan to address the budget
woes. First, Schwarzenegger proposed floating
$15,000,000,000 (USD) in bonds. Second, he urged voters to pass a
constitutional amendment to limit state spending. Third, he sought
an overhaul of workers\' compensation. Schwarzenegger also called
the state legislature into a special session and said that spending
cuts would also be necessary. He initiated the cuts by agreeing to
serve as governor with no salary, a savings of $175,000 (USD) per year. Schwarzenegger was later criticized for reneging on his campaign
pledges not to take money from special interests and for failing to
answer directly the sexual harassment allegations raised by the
Los Angeles Times immediately preceding the recall election.
However, Schwarzenegger made a point shortly after becoming governor of
voluntarily attending a training course conducted by the state Attorney
General\'s office on preventing sexual harassment (along with several
members of his senior staff). Schwarzenegger continues to collect campaign
contributions from private interests. In February 2004 when San Francisco city mayor, Gavin Newsom, ordered a
change in the certificate application documents to allow for same-sex
marriages, Governor Schwarzenegger opposed the move as being beyond
the powers of the mayor, but also said that he supports gay rights and has
expressed support for a law to grant civil unions to gay couples. In 2005 when he vetoed a bill that would have legalized same-sex
marriages he defended his actions by saying that California voters had
passed an initiative banning such recognition and that he supports
that state\'s domestic partnership law that gives same-sex couples many of
the same rights as a heterosexual married couple. In the spring of 2005, polls began showing Schwarzenegger\'s
approval ratings had dropped to between 40-49%. (They used to be 65%. By
comparison, former United States President Ronald Reagan, known as "the
Great Communicator," never hit 60% approval while serving as California
governor.) On June 13, 2005, Schwarzenegger called a statewide special election
for November 8, 2005, to vote on a series of reform measures he initially
proposed in his 2005 State of the State address. A non-partisan Field poll
released a week later showed his support had dropped to 37%, one of the
lowest approval ratings for any California governor and barely above the
support of recalled former Governor, Gray Davis. To some degree, Governor Schwarzenegger\'s unpopularity has had to do
with his confrontations with three popular labor groups: nurses, teachers,
and firefighters. Some unions and activists reacted with anger, and others
with humor. On September 29, 2005, Schwarzenegger vetoed the California gay
marriage bill after it had passed both houses of the legislature. He
stated that he vetoed the bill because he felt that it was in opposition
to the will of the voters as expressed by Proposition 22, that had passed
in 2000 with 61.4% of the vote. Proposition 22 stated that only marriages
between a man and a woman would be recognized in the state of California. On September 16, 2005, Schwarzenegger announced that he would seek a
second term as governor. Running up to the November special election,
Schwarzenegger campaigned heavily throughout the state for his
slate of propositions. Schwarzenegger characterized the four
propositions as being key to his reform agenda. He made personal
appearances at numerous so-called "town hall meeting" events throughout t
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