Tweet
I don't know if Arnold Schwarzenegger will run for governor. But I do know this: Our standard-order politicians are dreaming if they think they are going to blow him away.
I'm not surprised that the general public sees Schwarzenegger, so far, as little more than a Hollywood celebrity. But the political class should know better. This is a man of substance with accomplishments in charity and business that would make him a very formidable candidate for the state's highest office, even if his lack of political experience makes it difficult to guess what kind of governor he would ultimately be.
If Schwarzenegger runs, Democrats won't be able to lay a finger on him with issues they've long used to demonize Republicans: abortion, gun control, gay rights, the environment. And Republicans who think they can hit him on culture issues (he smoked pot as a young bodybuilder) will find their bullets bouncing off him as if he were a machine.
That's because Arnold has something that few modern politicians possess: a story. It's a captivating personal tale that meshes perfectly with his political beliefs. And if he runs, I think, it will get him elected.
Schwarzenegger came to America from Austria, a country with a socialist mindset where, he says, he heard 18-year-old men sitting around talking about the pensions they hoped to collect in their old age. It wasn't the life for him.
America, with its wide-open and competitive economy, was a beacon. It was a place where you were "free to live your own life, pursue your own goals, chase your own rainbow, without the government breathing down on your neck or standing on your shoes," he said in a taped introduction to one of a series of video vignettes based on economist Milton Friedman's tribute to markets, "Free to Choose."
Schwarzenegger arrived in California in 1968 with $20 in his pocket and a dream -- to get rich. He did just that, first by making a bit of money in the bodybuilding business and then investing a few thousand dollars in Los Angeles-area real estate.
Those investments produced his first million before he ever starred in a movie.
Now his empire extends to a downtown Denver entertainment center, a Columbus, Ohio, shopping mall and what sometimes seems to be half the buildings in the beach towns of Venice and Santa Monica. A recurring theme: Arnold likes to buy undervalued properties and turn them, and their neighborhoods, around.
His best known failure was a new chain of movie-themed restaurants -- Planet Hollywood -- which bombed and eventually went bankrupt. Analysts should note that this was one of the few times he invested big money in a venture over which he had little or no control.
Even so, Planet Hollywood was a blip on an otherwise fabulously successful screen. And his own self-made success in business and the movies solidified, for a time, Schwarzenegger's view that America is the land of opportunity where everyone can make it, if only they pull up their bootstraps and get to work.
But he has since discovered a counteracting principle, which he says is this: "Not everybody has boots."
As he explored America and its problems, Schwarzenegger concluded that his drive to succeed came not so much from his parents' genes as from their culture. Although he grew up poor, his parents pushed him to work hard and prepare himself for any opportunity. In America, he said, too many kids don't have that kind of support at home.
"Most of them don't get the motivation," Schwarzenegger said in a 2001 speech. "Instead they hear, 'You're a loser. You'll never make it out of the barrio or the ghetto. You'll never get out.'
"The more I saw, the more I realized I'd been wrong when I thought the American Dream was available to everyone. Because even though it is the land of opportunity for me, and the majority of Americans, millions are left behind. It's not a level playing field for them."
Schwarzenegger's solution was to adopt a fledgling Los Angeles after-school program known as the Inner-City Games and start a foundation that would take it national. Today, it provides after-school, weekend and summer programs for 200,000 children at more than 400 locations. It formed the basis for his successful ballot initiative, Proposition 49, which will expand public funding for after-school programs.
That merger of his personal beliefs with public policy is part of the transformation that, coincidentally, turned Schwarzenegger into the ideal California candidate: what I call a pragmatic libertarian.
"I still believe government should ensure a fair start and fair competition for all," he says. "It shouldn't rig the outcomes.
"I still believe in lower taxes -- and the power of the free market.
"I still believe in controlling government spending. If it's a bad program, let's get rid of it.
"But I also believe that government is important -- and should be in the business of educating our children, defending our people, ensuring public safety, advancing scientific and medical research, and more."
Most importantly, providing the opportunity for every child to have a chance to fulfill his dreams.
Arnold might be a novice at the campaign game. But he is no political weakling.
I'm not surprised that the general public sees Schwarzenegger, so far, as little more than a Hollywood celebrity. But the political class should know better. This is a man of substance with accomplishments in charity and business that would make him a very formidable candidate for the state's highest office, even if his lack of political experience makes it difficult to guess what kind of governor he would ultimately be.
If Schwarzenegger runs, Democrats won't be able to lay a finger on him with issues they've long used to demonize Republicans: abortion, gun control, gay rights, the environment. And Republicans who think they can hit him on culture issues (he smoked pot as a young bodybuilder) will find their bullets bouncing off him as if he were a machine.
That's because Arnold has something that few modern politicians possess: a story. It's a captivating personal tale that meshes perfectly with his political beliefs. And if he runs, I think, it will get him elected.
Schwarzenegger came to America from Austria, a country with a socialist mindset where, he says, he heard 18-year-old men sitting around talking about the pensions they hoped to collect in their old age. It wasn't the life for him.
America, with its wide-open and competitive economy, was a beacon. It was a place where you were "free to live your own life, pursue your own goals, chase your own rainbow, without the government breathing down on your neck or standing on your shoes," he said in a taped introduction to one of a series of video vignettes based on economist Milton Friedman's tribute to markets, "Free to Choose."
Schwarzenegger arrived in California in 1968 with $20 in his pocket and a dream -- to get rich. He did just that, first by making a bit of money in the bodybuilding business and then investing a few thousand dollars in Los Angeles-area real estate.
Those investments produced his first million before he ever starred in a movie.
Now his empire extends to a downtown Denver entertainment center, a Columbus, Ohio, shopping mall and what sometimes seems to be half the buildings in the beach towns of Venice and Santa Monica. A recurring theme: Arnold likes to buy undervalued properties and turn them, and their neighborhoods, around.
His best known failure was a new chain of movie-themed restaurants -- Planet Hollywood -- which bombed and eventually went bankrupt. Analysts should note that this was one of the few times he invested big money in a venture over which he had little or no control.
Even so, Planet Hollywood was a blip on an otherwise fabulously successful screen. And his own self-made success in business and the movies solidified, for a time, Schwarzenegger's view that America is the land of opportunity where everyone can make it, if only they pull up their bootstraps and get to work.
But he has since discovered a counteracting principle, which he says is this: "Not everybody has boots."
As he explored America and its problems, Schwarzenegger concluded that his drive to succeed came not so much from his parents' genes as from their culture. Although he grew up poor, his parents pushed him to work hard and prepare himself for any opportunity. In America, he said, too many kids don't have that kind of support at home.
"Most of them don't get the motivation," Schwarzenegger said in a 2001 speech. "Instead they hear, 'You're a loser. You'll never make it out of the barrio or the ghetto. You'll never get out.'
"The more I saw, the more I realized I'd been wrong when I thought the American Dream was available to everyone. Because even though it is the land of opportunity for me, and the majority of Americans, millions are left behind. It's not a level playing field for them."
Schwarzenegger's solution was to adopt a fledgling Los Angeles after-school program known as the Inner-City Games and start a foundation that would take it national. Today, it provides after-school, weekend and summer programs for 200,000 children at more than 400 locations. It formed the basis for his successful ballot initiative, Proposition 49, which will expand public funding for after-school programs.
That merger of his personal beliefs with public policy is part of the transformation that, coincidentally, turned Schwarzenegger into the ideal California candidate: what I call a pragmatic libertarian.
"I still believe government should ensure a fair start and fair competition for all," he says. "It shouldn't rig the outcomes.
"I still believe in lower taxes -- and the power of the free market.
"I still believe in controlling government spending. If it's a bad program, let's get rid of it.
"But I also believe that government is important -- and should be in the business of educating our children, defending our people, ensuring public safety, advancing scientific and medical research, and more."
Most importantly, providing the opportunity for every child to have a chance to fulfill his dreams.
Arnold might be a novice at the campaign game. But he is no political weakling.
Comment