“Chameleon” Schwarzenegger shows green in campaign

By Mary Milliken

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – California Gov. Arnold
Schwarzenegger’s Democratic opponents call him a chameleon,
changing colors as he seeks re-election in a difficult year for
Republicans nationwide.

Last week, the Republican Schwarzenegger was decidedly
“green,” like the color of his campaign bus, as he struck a
deal with the state legislature’s Democratic majority to enact
a law making California the first U.S. state to cap
greenhouse-gas emissions.

In doing so, he snubbed his own party, much of the
California business establishment and President Bush, whom
Schwarzenegger has accused of doing too little to fight global
warming.

With that and other initiatives that have made the former
bodybuilder and star of the “Terminator” movies look like a
closet Democrat, Schwarzenegger has built a strong lead in the
campaign.

A poll released last week by the Public Policy Institute of
California gave Schwarzenegger 45 percent of the vote, a
13-point lead over State Treasurer Phil Angelides, the
Democratic candidate.

Nationally, the Republicans face losing their majority in
the U.S. Congress as Bush’s popularity ratings hover in the
high 30 percent range amid voter dissatisfaction with the Iraq
war and other issues.

Schwarzenegger backed an increase in California’s minimum
wage to the highest nationwide and a cut in the cost of
prescription drugs — stealing traditional Democratic issues
from Angelides.

After Schwarzenegger and the state’s top Democrats
announced the greenhouse-gas bill and drew accolades from the
likes of British Prime Minister Tony Blair, a struggling
Angelides was left with little ground to stand on.

Even if Schwarzenegger has distanced himself from Bush’s
conservative agenda, analysts say he should make amends with
core constituents — conservative Republicans and evangelical
Christians.

“Every time he steps toward the middle to grab the
moderates, he risks disaffecting these people, not to the point
that they will vote for somebody else but just not vote at
all,” said Larry Gerston, political science professor at San
Jose State University.

‘AUSTRIAN TEDDY ROOSEVELT’

Schwarzenegger aides reject any idea of “rebranding” the
governor after a roller-coaster three years in office, marred
by his calling of a special election that backfired in 2005.

“Three years ago, the governor ran as someone who could
break the gridlock in Sacramento,” said Matthew David, deputy
communications director for Schwarzenegger’s campaign. “He is
someone who has been successful in a bi-partisan fashion.”

But San Francisco’s Democratic Mayor Gavin Newsom called
Schwarzenegger a “chameleon” and told the San Francisco
Chronicle that “by no means has he shown leadership on those
issues. … He’s been reactive.”

The Austrian immigrant has always defied political
convention, even when he married Maria Shriver, a member of the
country’s leading Democratic clan, the Kennedys.

Early speculation on his presidential prospects faded in
the face of a constitutional requirement that the U.S.
president be native-born.

Schwarzenegger’s staff maintains he is a Republican,
opposed to tax increases and committed to his party.

Conservationists have praised his pro-environment agenda
and called him “very green for a Republican,” even if he
personally championed the use of the gas-guzzling Hummer
vehicles in his movie star days.

Joe Mathews, author of “The People’s Machine: Arnold
Schwarzenegger and the Rise of Blockbuster Democracy,” said the
governor hopes to emulate the conservation achievements of
former U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt, a fellow Republican.

“He wants to be the ultimate pro-business governor and he
thinks he’s the Austrian Teddy Roosevelt, too, and that’s
classic Schwarzenegger,” Mathews said.