PRNewswire
Monday, Oct. 13, 2003

"The key thing is to get help from the federal government. For every dollar we are paying in federal taxes we are getting back 77 cents in services," he tells San Francisco Bureau Chief Karen Breslau in the October 20 issue of Newsweek (on newsstands Monday, October 13). "I would like to get more of the benefits. I will solve some of the self-inflicted wounds. I'm a Republican, they are a Republican administration. We can work together on many of these problems."

Schwarzenegger says Washington is not to blame for the state of California's economy. "Bush has nothing to do at all with our high workers-comp costs, the fact that we have the highest energy costs, the incredible amount of businesses leaving California. It's not America that has the problem, it's California that has the problem. People don't want to take it any longer. Bush has nothing do with that; I have never heard anyone say that he did."

On whether it was difficult for him to watch his wife Maria Shriver deal with allegations about his past behavior, Schwarzenegger says he had made it clear from the beginning that the campaign would be tough on his wife and children. "My wife said 'I'm 100 percent behind you, no matter what'... She knows how I've changed. She wants people to know me as I am today. As I said during my acceptance speech, I know how much she did for me."

Schwarzenegger says he's "a different Arnold," than he was in his bodybuilding days. "We all go through stages. You change a lot more, you become more mature. You grow out of this stage. When you are 4, you play with trucks [mimics the sound of an engine roaring and brakes squealing]. When you are 14, you don't want the little truck, you want to go out and play soccer; you don't think about building businesses. But when you are 24, you do think about building a business."

Keeper of the Flame

While it's too soon to call Arnold Schwarzenegger's latest production "Camelot West," his wife Maria Shriver has emerged as the keeper of the flame, not to mention defender-in-chief of her husband's image, writes Breslau.

"Anybody goes after me and she gets fierce," Schwarzenegger tells Newsweek.

"She comes from a family that has dealt with rumor and innuendo for decades," says her close friend Roberta Hollander, a producer for CBS News. "She knows how to deal with it."

Following last-minute allegations that he had groped and verbally harassed numerous women over the years, Schwarzenegger's "woman problem" never materialized in the voting booth, and many think Maria was the reason. For most of the campaign, Schwarzenegger trailed among women voters by as many as 12 points behind Democratic candidate Cruz Bustamante.

But in the end, Schwarzenegger wound up beating the lieutenant governor among female voters, 44 percent to 35 percent, according to exit polls. Shriver's support of her husband-which unlike Hillary Clinton's was unwavering-helped staunch the mudslide and buck up her chagrined husband, who apologized for "behaving badly," while blaming his opponents.

"She gave me a lot of strength," Schwarzenegger tells Newsweek. The morning after his win, at his mansion in Brentwood, Schwarzenegger had just finished pumping iron when he received a call from George W. Bush, report Chief Political Correspondent Howard Fineman and Breslau.

"I'm proud of you," said Bush, who had kept his distance from the Schwarzenegger campaign for tactical reasons. Arnold thanked him, adding that he would need lots of help.

"I look forward to working with you," Bush replied.

The victory instantly made Arnold a major Republican figure, a close second to the president, reports Fineman. Republicans immediately began seeking ways to benefit from Arnoldmania, while Democratic presidential wanna-bes looked to ride the same wave of discontent that had lifted Arnold in California.

"Voter anger is building everywhere in the country," said Joe Trippi, Howard Dean's campaign manager. "The same forces will put Bush in jeopardy next year."

Now, in the Arnold Ascendency, the Bushies saw a chance to put California "in play" in a presidential race for the first time since the '80s.

Just as important, they see Schwarzenegger supplying an infusion of optimism, confidence and pizzazz that is reminiscent-dare they say it?-of another genial actor turned California Republican icon, Ronald Reagan. Strategists are salivating at the thought of using Schwarzenegger as a big fund-raising draw and a charismatic headliner at the Republican convention in New York.

"He'll be a real star," predicted GOP polltaker Bill McInturff.

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