CALIFORNIA FOCUS
FOR RELEASE: TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2015, OR THEREAFTER
FOR RELEASE: TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2015, OR THEREAFTER
BY THOMAS D. ELIAS
“ARNOLD HELPED PAVE WAY FOR THE DONALD”
Parallels between current presidential
candidate Donald Trump and ex-California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger are myriad
and obvious to anyone who cares to look.
Both are celebrities with no need to
spend money on getting-to-know-you TV commercials like ordinary candidates for
high office. Both went after political offices after pursuing lucrative careers
not even slightly related to running a government. Each claimed not to
need special interest money, since both are rolling in dough.
Neither has shown the slightest worry
about the rumors or reality of his womanizing past and (maybe) present. Voters
male and female have never shown signs of worry about their personal
indiscretions.
Trump’s flashy campaign style,
featuring his blue-painted personal jumbo jet and occasional rides for kids in
his personal helicopter apes Schwarzenegger’s practice of constantly
surrounding himself with klieg lights and aides attired in expensive leather
jackets festooned with Arnold-related logos. Because he campaigned only in
California, Schwarzenegger never needed a jumbo like Trump’s Boeing 757,
but could make do with a mere private jet he kept at the Santa Monica Airport,
not far from his home in Brentwood’s Mandeville Canyon.
The similarities go on and on, the
largest of them being that their support levels are never diminished by their
errors, ignorance or sins. It’s almost as if both were Kardashians,
members of a dynasty founded by a lawyer pal of accused and acquitted
wife-killer O.J. Simpson, Robert Kardashian, who was long suspected of
destroying or hiding key evidence sought by police.
That background has never held back
any member of his clan.
Nor has the way Arnold and The Donald
ignore the old caution to “be sure brain is engaged before putting mouth into
gear.”
Several months into the campaign for
next year’s Republican presidential nomination, Trump continues to lead the GOP
field, where the No. 2 spot in the polls fluctuates unpredictably.
As with Schwarzenegger, and decades
earlier with actor Ronald Reagan, Democrats don’t yet see Trump as a serious
threat. He puts foot in mouth at least once a week, rarely apologizing and
never backing off what would be serious gaffes for any non-celebrity.
Consistency also doesn’t matter, as
Trump has changed positions on everything from abortion to immigration. When he
entered politics, the muscleman actor Schwarzenegger didn’t have prior
positions he could contradict. But he frequently broke promises, including the
first one he made as a recall election candidate in 2003.
Starting his run on NBC-TV’s Tonight
Show, Schwarzenegger vowed never to accept “special interest” money. Then he
immediately began accepting campaign contributions from oil companies, car
dealers and almost any interest willing to write a check. He also promised to
order an independent investigation into allegations he groped and otherwise
sexually harassed women. It never happened. There were many others.
Once he became governor, it quickly
became clear Schwarzenegger had little notion of how to run America’s largest
state government. He began by threatening public employee unions, who famously
whipped him in every ballot initiative contest they fought. He gave orders to
the state attorney general, only to be reminded that independently-elected
official did not work for him. He appointed a former utility company president
to regulate that company as president of the California Public Utilities
Commission.
Would Trump, who has bragged about
taking advantage of federal bankruptcy laws because “everyone else in my
position does,” display similar desires to be a kind of strongman? There’s
little doubt he would bring at least as much bombast to the office.
Democrats who now belittle Trump’s
White House chances because he doesn’t pepper his speeches with many facts or
pay much heed to what he could do by himself if elected should remember Reagan,
who as a campaigner also did not bother much with facts.
When faced with tough questions in the
early months of his winning 1980 campaign, he often turned toward the wings
offstage, saying “I’ll let Ed (Meese) answer that one,” referring to a top aide
he later appointed U.S. attorney general. When an opponent rattled off facts
and pointed out his contradictions during debates, he grinned wryly into the
camera and said, “There he goes again.”
And he always won easily. So might
Trump if Democrats keep taking him lightly. That’s the lesson for them from
Reagan and Schwarzenegger, the only other big-time celebrities to seek the
highest office they possibly could.
-30-
Elias is author of the current book “The Burzynski Breakthrough: The Most Promising Cancer Treatment and the Government's Campaign to Squelch It,” now available in an updated third edition. His email address is tdelias@aol.com
Elias is author of the current book “The Burzynski Breakthrough: The Most Promising Cancer Treatment and the Government's Campaign to Squelch It,” now available in an updated third edition. His email address is tdelias@aol.com
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