Schwarzenegger: No pandering to conservatives re same-sex marriage

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)

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