Surprise Hit in Hollywood: The Action-Figure Governor

[Freddie Stubbs]

By MIREYA NAVARRO

LOS ANGELES

IN the new release "Around the World in 80 Days," Arnold Schwarzenegger has a cameo as a narcissistic Turkish prince with a frizzy Cleopatra look and even worse pickup lines. ("It is mesmerizing the way your face illuminates.") The movie has bombed but, luckily for Mr. Schwarzenegger, Hollywood is giving him good reviews anyway.

Many high-profile figures in the heavily Democratic entertainment industry campaigned against the recall election that put Mr. Schwarzenegger in the California governor's office, gave money to rival candidates or publicly doubted his qualifications. But in barely eight months, he has defied the naysayers and found an elixir more potent than Botox for an aging action star reduced to silly movie parts: political success.

He has proven so popular as governor — polls show he has an approval rating of over 60 percent — that many Hollywood Democrats not only praise him but have joined him on some issues. And Republicans in the industry seem to be squinting in the sunlight after a long hibernation. A group of Republicans including actors, producers and writers who have held salon-type meetings to discuss politics and the Iraq war for over a year has grown to about 100, from 8 at first, said the character actor Robert Davi, adding that Mr. Schwarzenegger has galvanized many of them. As Michael Harbert, a writer and producer who is a Republican and has worked on G.O.P. campaigns, put it: "He clearly opened the door and made it not just acceptable but fashionable to say, `I'm an Arnold Schwarzenegger Republican.' That's a new title. He's brought that cachet back." Mr. Davi, who appeared in "Raw Deal" with Mr. Schwarzenegger, recalled that in the thick of the California recall campaign last year, the consensus among many celebrities about Mr. Schwarzenegger's candidacy could be summed up in one phrase: "This is a joke." Danny DeVito, an early political supporter of the governor and his co-star in films like "Twins," remembered that fellow Democrats in the business questioned his endorsement.

"Some of my friends couldn't believe I was supporting him," Mr. DeVito said. "They said that, basically, he was a Republican" — as in contagious disease.

more: http://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/27/fashion/27HOLL.html?ei=5006&en=e9405bbfe3e6ab29&ex=1089086400&partner=ALTAVISTA1&pagewanted=print&position=

[sui generis]

1. he's still an ass

just because you're an "Ah-nold" Republican doesn't mean that you somehow have an acceptable form of that disease. They still have absurd ideas like Federal Marriage Amendments and drilling in the ANWR and quaint outdated ideas about whatever they conceive "morality" to be, and that has nothing to do with assgrabbing "Ah-Nold", bobblehead figurehead. Danny DeVito can't help being suckered in - actors aren't generally known for their raw briliance, in fact, if Ah-Nold is getting a spotlight you can be sure that somebody who makes a living of being in the spotlight is going to do their best to associate themselves and get a little more free publicity and free marketing, regardless of who they are.

[PROGRESSIVE1]

3. I Hate California!!! Also, I may see myself going to the theatre VERY...

RARELY if all of "Librul" Hollywood licks this SOB's crotch!!!

Were are the real Liberals???

:argh:

[DenverDem]

2. the gropinator is the new raygun

Insidious veneer of centrism while fronting for a radical wrong wing cabal.

This guy is the most dangerous wrong winger going because he's "likeable".

He was complicit in the attacks on Grey Davis and the energy market fraud against California having met with Ken Lay prior to all of that going down. But his real opinions on women's rights and economics are way beyond wrong wing radicality.