Who let the dogs out?
Politicians often regret their campaign promises. Upon calm reflection, George H. W. Bush might have wanted to say, "Read my lips, no new taxes--unless the country really, really needs them to reduce the deficit."
And Arnold Schwarzenegger, who takes over as California's 38th governor this week, probably wishes he had adopted the "Dee Snider defense" in the face of accusations that Schwarzenegger has groped at least 15 women over the years. Snider, lead singer for Twisted Sister, whose 1984 hit "We're Not Gonna Take It" became Schwarzenegger's campaign anthem, said, "The fact is, men are dogs. If we took all the dogs out of jobs of importance, we'd have a lot of empty offices."
Instead, two days before the recall election that transformed him from a Hollywood superstar to a Sacramento superstar, Schwarzenegger did an interview with NBC's Tom Brokaw in order to put the groping allegations to rest. Instead, Schwarzenegger continued their life cycle.
The key exchange was this one:
BROKAW: Governor [Gray] Davis is saying today that you have an obligation to answer specifically the charges that have been made against you by 15 women now. You either have to call those women and their families liars, or give specific responses to the charges that they have made. Are you prepared to do that?
SCHWARZENEGGER: Governor Davis owes the people of California an apology for what he has done to this state. He owes them an explanation. He should talk to the people of California because what he has done to this state is terrible.
BROKAW: But you're not going to be any more specific about these charges, in terms of your denials?
SCHWARZENEGGER: As soon as the campaign is over, I will.
Two days later, the campaign ended with a Schwarzenegger victory, but he didn't seem all that eager to make good on his campaign promise.
At his first press conference, Schwarzenegger didn't raise the matter (nor did any of the hundreds of reporters in the room). But he did make an interesting plea. "Please do me a favor," Schwarzenegger said to the reporters. "Stay with me the next three years, because you are absolutely essential for me to get my message out there. I really appreciate your being a part of this campaign."
Perhaps Schwarzenegger's assumption that the press was "part" of his campaign was enough to awaken some reporters, because the next day at a press conference, a reporter asked Schwarzenegger when he would make good on his promise to provide more specifics about the groping charges.
"Old news," Schwarzenegger said tersely.
Not to Garry Trudeau, creator of Doonesbury, it isn't. Trudeau has done strip after strip portraying Schwarzenegger as a giant groping hand. And California Attorney General Bill Lockyer, who appears to have been on every possible side of the issue, has also kept it going. On the last day of the recall campaign, Lockyer, a Democrat, said that even though the statute of limitations had run out on bringing criminal charges against Schwarzenegger for his behavior, "Arnold should volunteer" for an "investigation to clear up these charges." Said Lockyer, "There's too many of them. They're disturbing; the volume is disturbing." After Schwarzenegger won, however, Lockyer said he had voted for Schwarzenegger. "I'm convinced Arnold didn't really understand that he was caught up in frat-boy behavior," Lockyer said.
Two weeks ago, however, Lockyer gave a radio interview saying he had met with Schwarzenegger and told him "some form of independent, third-party review of those [groping] complaints" was needed "to see if there's any criminal liability or not." Schwarzenegger was furious, and his spokesman made the somewhat curious claim that Lockyer had violated "attorney-client" privilege by divulging "the content of communication between himself and the governor-elect." Under California law, Schwarzenegger's spokesman said, "the attorney general is the governor's lawyer."
At the time, however, Schwarzenegger was not governor, nor had the recall vote even been certified. No matter, the spokesman said, Lockyer had violated the privilege, and even though Schwarzenegger had decided "to engage a well-respected investigative firm to look into the allegations," he now might not turn the results over to Lockyer.
Lockyer, who may run for governor in 2006, soon struck back, saying someone had come to him two days before the election with information that Schwarzenegger may have groped someone last year during the filming of Terminator 3. Lockyer also suggested that a toll-free 800 number be established so that anyone with complaints against Schwarzenegger could call in.
But (800) THE-GROPI-NATOR will not fit.
Why Can't Generals Just Get Along?
When at a forum in September, retired Gen. Hugh Shelton was asked if he would support retired Gen. Wesley Clark for president, Shelton, the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, quickly took a drink of water. "That question makes me wish it were vodka," Shelton said. "I've known Wes for a long time. I will tell you the reason he came out of Europe early had to do with integrity and character issues, things that are very near and dear to my heart. I'm not going to say whether I'm a Republican or a Democrat. I'll just say Wes won't get my vote."
Which was bad enough, but on November 6, retired Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf appeared on CNBC's Capital Report, hosted by Gloria Borger and Alan Murray, who asked him what he thought of Clark. "I think the greatest condemnation against him . . . came from the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff when he was a NATO commander. I mean, he was fired as a NATO commander," Schwarzkopf replied, "and when Hugh Shelton said he was fired because of matters of character and integrity, that is a very, very damning statement, which says, `If that's the case, he's not the right man for president,' as far as I'm concerned."
Shelton has refused to expand on his remarks, and Schwarzkopf isn't providing details, either. So Clark was understandably miffed when he responded on the campaign trail the next day: "I haven't talked to General Schwarzkopf since 1991, when I interviewed him in his headquarters about what he liked and didn't like about the Army. He left the Army shortly after that; haven't seen him in 12 years. He didn't ask me anything about it. So he's certainly entitled to his opinion, but I think America should hold people to a high standard."
We are not sure exactly what that means, but for now we are not inviting any of these guys to the same party.
What, Him Worried?
Way back in January, John Kerry looked like the candidate with everything: He had the money; he had the staff; he had the Vietnam service. He had the hair, he had the voice, and if you had to pick a Democratic front-runner, you pretty much had to pick him.
Today, however, Kerry is trying to persuade the media he doesn't have a one-way ticket to Palookaville. Last week, he fired his campaign manager, his press secretary quit, and former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean continues to hold a big lead in Kerry's "must win" state of New Hampshire.
At times like these, candidates have just one thing to fall back on: optimism. "We're on the move; stay tuned," Kerry told reporters during a nature walk along the Merrimack River in Litchfield, N.H. "I think we are just doing fantastically."
True, Dean has raised more money; true, Dean has just received the endorsement of the two largest unions in the AFL-CIO; and true, the media are on a "Dean is unstoppable" kick, but Kerry isn't worried.
"This is like Grady Little and Pedro [Martinez], and I made the move that he didn't," Kerry said for the benefit of all those who follow baseball. "But we're still going to win the World Series. You watch."
We will. And we will keep in mind that good hitting always beats good pitching. And vice versa.
This story appears in the November 24, 2003 print edition of U.S. News & World Report.