Gearing up for a
tough November 8 election, California governor
Arnold Schwarzenegger is promising not to use the issue of
same-sex marriage to score political points with
conservative Republicans, because "that's not my
style," he told the San Jose Mercury News on
Tuesday. "I will never use it. Did you see me saying
one word at the Republican convention?"
However, according to the newspaper, the
governor said the same-sex marriage bill that passed
the legislature earlier this month shows "how much out
of touch the legislature is." That bill would have
made California the first state to legalize same-sex
marriage through legislative action.The governor has
maintained that the bill would conflict with the
intent of voters when they approved a ballot initiative
five years ago. Proposition 22 prevents California from
recognizing same-sex marriages performed in other
states or countries.
He has vowed to veto the measure, angering gay
rights groups. Yet he told the newspaper that he
is not "particularly troubled by same-sex nuptials and
has the utmost respect for gay people and for gay couples."
"I'm not personally hung up on the whole thing,"
he added. Schwarzenegger began his campaign last week
with a series of choreographed, invitation-only
events. This week he took his case directly to the
media, with a series of brief one-on-one interviews, the
newspaper reported.
Schwarzenegger does not have the clout in the
state that he once enjoyed. His positions are coming
under attack by well-funded unions, and countless
television ads are portraying him as untrustworthy and
uncaring. Polls show that the public is lukewarm to his
ideas, the newspaper reported.
He described himself as a leader who makes
decisions without calculating the political costs and
benefits ahead of time and said his troubles this year
should show voters he is really on their side. "I don't work
like a politician," Schwarzenegger said. "That's why I make
mistakes sometimes where people, political analysts, say,
'Oh, this guy is out of his mind. Why did he do this?
Why did he take on so many issues this year?'" (San
Jose Mercury News, AP)
