Schwarzenegger Stoops to New Lows in Ohio

It would have been utterly pathetic were it not for the urgency of the moment: with less than four days to go in one of the most significant elections in modern human history, there was California's Governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, on the campaign trail in Ohio, pandering for John McCain and Sarah Palin in the heart of working-class America.

With his faux tan and Hollywood crafted persona, Schwarzenegger took a series of cheap shots at Democratic nominee Barack Obama, the type of low oratorical blows that he would never have the temerity to utter here in California--and only a week after declaring in a CNN interview that "I don't believe in personal attacks. I personally don't think that the people are interested [in] that..."

So much for the Governator's integrity.

Unable to prevent a Republican landslide for Obama in the Golden State (I'm predicting that Obama-Biden wins in California by nearly 25 points), Schwarzenegger took to the campaign trail on behalf of the McCain-Palin ticket in Columbus, where he stages an annual body-building expo.

"John McCain," Schwarzenegger declared, "has served his country longer in a POW camp than his opponent has served in the United State Senate." It was a remarkably insensitive and chilling reference to "camps" coming from someone whose own father voluntarily joined a paramilitary wing of the Nazi Party as it launched its genocide against Jews in Europe. Not to mention his own blank political resume when he first ran for governor six years ago.

But Schwarzenegger did not stop there. Unable to curtail either his macho or Aryan tendencies, he declared: "I want to invite Senator Obama [to Columbus], because he needs to do something about those skinny legs. I'm going to make him do some squats. And then we're going to make him do some biceps curls to beef up those scrawny little arms."

"If only we could do something about putting some meat on his ideas," Schwarzenegger declared, apparently forgetting his own nose-diving approval ratings here in California, which are rivaling the likes of George Bush. With little more than two years left to go in his failed governorship, he's already viewed as a lame duck by most political players in Sacramento.

Of course, one never knows how much stock to put in anything Schwarzenegger has to say. When he doesn't have a script in front of him, he's often all over the map. Verbatim transcriptions of his remarks reveal the linguistic capacity of someone who has difficulty comprehending anything but the most simplistic political formulations.

"I left Europe four decades ago because socialism has killed opportunities there," Schwarzenegger said. ". . . Now Sen. Obama says he wants to pursue the same 'spread the wealth' ideas that Europe had decades ago."

Are we really supposed to be taking this guy seriously? Little more than a week ago, a persistent Campbell Brown on CNN asked him about Sarah Palin. He described her as a "great choice," then conceded that she wasn't yet qualified to serve as president.

Then he equivocated yet again. Schwarzenegger declared, "Do you have the will to educate yourself? Do you have the will to get up to speed? Are you a sponge that absorbs information very quickly? That's the kind of person [Palin] is. That's what she would do if she becomes vice president."

Of course, Palin's mantra of "Drill, Baby, Drill," doesn't particularly resonate with Schwarzenegger's California constituency, and Brown tried to pin him down on the issue. Schwarzenegger simply refused to answer her question about this critical policy difference between himself and the McCain-Palin ticket. "The important thing is that McCain has a great portfolio of different energy sources and different solutions to the problem we're facing today," he declared, a flat-out lie about McCain's clearly stated support for off-shore oil drilling.

Back in Ohio, Schwarzenegger didn't have to worry about offending Californians. "If Sen. Obama had taken all of that money he has spent on TV ads, he could have bailed out the banks, paid off everyone's mortgages and saved taxpayers a ton of money," Schwarzenegger, well, lied again. "I think there will be a backlash against all of this lopsided spending. I think Americans on Tuesday will say our democracy is not for sale."

Say what? Schwarzenegger has used his celebrity to rake in more than $130 million in campaign contributions since his first gubernatorial bid six-plus years ago. He's also accepted several hundreds of thousands of dollar from corporate cronies who have sponsored trips and conferences overseas.

Moreover, in his current campaign for a ballot initiative to take the power to craft legislative districts away from state lawmakers (Prop. 11), Schwarzenegger has outspent his opponents by a ratio of 10-to-1. His hypocrisy apparently knows no bounds.

And come the national election results on Tuesday, we'll see who needs to be doing his squats and curls. The Governator's political muscle is looking awfully flabby these days.

Comments

[deliriousgod]

Family Guy-- Arnold Schwarzenegger's assessment of Gov. Palin's assets: "Sarah Palin is a hot female like a hot Italian lady or maybe some kind of Spanish"

[GBGB]

Mr. Dunn, why bring up the fact that Schwarzenegger's father was a Nazi? How is that not 100 times lower than anything that Schwarzenegger said? How is it relevant? I have to walk a fine line between making my point and not succumbing to your depths, but if you think that a politician's father's conduct is so relevant, why don't you write about Obama's father and what type of a man he was?
Schwarzenegger made some jokes about Obama needing to work out. So what? That's a stupid thing that Schwarzenegger does to play up his past persona as a bodybuilder/action star. He does it with respect to all Democrats. It has no racial undertones, as you seem to imply.
And then you say that Schwarzenegger made a "flat out lie" when he talked about McCain having multiple solutions with respect to our energy policy. McCain's energy policy does include multiple solutions and strategies (including, but certainly not limited to, off-shore drilling). Therefore, it is you, Mr. Dunn, who has made the "flat out lie."
Schwarzenegger does not support your candidate, so you write an article implying that Schwarzenegger is a Nazi and a racist. It is truly amazing how intolerant liberals/Democrats (both yourself and the people posting herein) can be towards anyone who would dare crticize their candidate or not share their political views.

[heinz]

Schwarzenegger"s socialism
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger claims he fled Austria where "socialism killed opportunities." What kind of "socialism"? When Schwarzenegger left in 1968 Austria"s government was conservative and antisocialist. When Schwarzenegger visits Austria he frequently says this would be the party " then in power - he would support. Now he accuses Senator Obama of wanting "to pursue the same spread-the-wealth ideas that Europe had decades ago." Wouldn"t it be exciting to observe how a democratic president Barack Obama implements a conservative Austrian agenda that Schwarzenegger endorses and now calls "socialism"?

[ElBruce]

"I left Europe four decades ago because socialism has killed opportunities there..." It's true that Austria has always had much less of a lucrative market for professional bodybuilding than does Sourthern California, but I had no idea that was socialism's fault.

[Acid Monkey]

I never did like his movies.... or his acting.

[GBGB]

Brilliant insight.

[Sparty1]

He was worse than McCain. I couldn't understand most of the things he said. It was like once he got started he started speaking in his native tongue.

[GBGB]

Wow, making fun of Schwarzenegger's accent? How astute. Of course, if a Republican made this type of comment about a Democrat, everyone on this board would be accusing that Republican of being prejudiced and intolerant.

[Frannyvida]

When it comes to Prison Guards and their Unions.; They are needed if you work directly for the State of CA and Sheriff's Dept if you work County. Without a Union, they would continue to get screwed on hours, no OT, or cut hours resulting in less pay and benefits. The "scary" ones, are the "new guards" for prisons that have been taken over by private companies. A trend spreading far and wide because of State leaders like Arnie, incompetent. See, more of the same. Privatization of our jails and prisons equals less regulation, higher pay outs from State Government and on and on. Hence new proposition like 5 and 9. More examples of funding by Corporate interests and yet another way to avoid the normal budgeting process.

[twofish]

The prison guards union in California were circulating petitions to recall Arnold recently, but I hear they have given up on the idea. Too bad, they had the deep pockets to do it. I expect everyone is too taken up with the presidential race this year. They creep me out, too, pouring large amounts of money into political campaigns to increase the prison population with harsher laws and longer sentences, since that translates into money for them. But if it would vex Arnold, I'd sign their petition.

Arnold talks a good game of political bipartisanship, so his sympathies ought to be with Obama. He could have sat on his hands for this election, but the fact that he's campaigning for McCain shows what BS his claims to reach across the aisle are. What a blowhard.

[harriettubman]

With the bad job he's done in CA, I surely wouldn't want him campaigning for me. The people of CA recalled Gov. Davis and look what they got.

[ghenry]

Maria, you know what you have to do. Yes, you can!!

[owlsocks]

Arnie is such a has-been.

[mergina]

Swnegger needs a swift kick in his ridiculous arse. A guy with democratic views who calls himself a republican. "What are you tinking Ahnold?"

[Indepatriot]

Thanks for helping me find the next campaign to volunteer for. No matter who the Democrats nominate to go after The Gropeinator, I'll be in the trenches, on the street, fighting to make sure Arnold goes down in defeat.

[DavidFarmer]

Every time I see Ahhhhnold I want to kick myself and every other Democrat in California. How did we let him get back in in 2006? A short time before the election he looked to be dead in the water. He was completely ineffective and irrelevant. It looked like the race would be a landslide against Ahhhnold, and it should have been. Then he surged ahead and won the race. How did we let that happen?

Democrats Westly and Angelides beat the holy crap out of each other in the primary, with Angelides coming out just ahead; bloody but victorious. Sadly, however, he never recovered from the fight with Westly and AHHHHnold cleaned Angelides clock in the general election. It was a disaster! The DEMS just had much too much infighting.

We must never let that happen again!

[Linda Bergthold - Huffpost Blogger]

Hey Geoff! Nice to see you on Huffington Post! Scharzenegger is truly pathetic and as many of your commenters note, we won't forget that should he ever seek another office out of California. It's interesting that he took so long to speak out for McCain. He must have known that wouldn't go over very well at home. I agree with you that Obama will win big in California, but I really do worry that Californians will give up on the long lines and not vote Tuesday because it may look like the election is over. We have a lot of propositions on the ballot that are critical, and I hope people will not give up.

Santa Cruz is one of the most pro-Obama cities in California (if you go by percentages), and I am so proud of what we have all done here for this election. Over 39,000 calls made from the Monterey Bay area in the past few days.