GET 'EM WHILE THEY'RE YOUNG

Coming Soon: 'Rise of the Arnold Democrats' (Tony Quinn, August 10, 2003, LA Times)

Another actor - named Ronald Reagan - erupted on the California political scene 37 years ago, and one of his legacies was the "Reagan Democrat." These were blue-collar, New Deal Democrats who suddenly found themselves voting for a conservative Republican. Reagan Democrats transformed California politics, not only catapulting Reagan into the governorship twice but also helping elect him president twice.

Schwarzenegger's largest effect may be to bring to the polls another new class of voters - people who would ordinarily be expected to vote Democratic, if they voted at all. These voters, though also blue-collar, are probably younger than the Reagan Democrats; they are definitely alienated from politics. One reason that polling on Schwarzenegger's candidacy has been difficult is that pollsters don't know whom to ask. Schwarzenegger's supporters may be "below-the-screen" voters, the same people who elected professional wrestler Jesse Ventura governor of Minnesota. [...]

Between 1966 - the year Reagan was elected governor - and 1994, the California Democratic Party lost six races for governor because Reagan Democrats crossed over in the voting booth. Not until the Reagan Democrat passed into history in the late 1990s did the Democrats again reassert themselves in California politics.

The newly emerging Arnold Democrat is as socially liberal to libertarian as the Reagan Democrat was socially conservative. He or she may well be an immigrant or the child of an immigrant. But one thing seems certain: The Arnold Democrat poses every bit as much of a threat to the California Democratic Party as the Reagan Democrat did decades ago.

The fact that some on the Right seem to be having a hard time processing is that, in order for conservative ideas to matter at all in California--which, let's face it, they don't right now--the Republican Party there needs to be re-energized and rebuilt and this is a golden opportunity to do just that. Arnold certainly isn't as conservative as the core of the Party nationally, but this election is less about him than about the future he makes possible for Republicans. Use his candidacy as a tool with which to raise money, bring in new members, and, most important, recruit young conservatives--Hispanics and Asians if you can find them--to run in the next election. Recruitment is always an easier proposition when your party is plausible and the person you're plying has some chance of winning, something which few Republicans do right now on a statewide basis in CA.

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Schwarzenegger Built a Vast Business Empire: Disclosure forms reveal unusually wide range of interests that extend far beyond passion projects. (Michael Cieply, Gary Cohn, Claudia Eller and Roger Vincent, August 10, 2003, LA Times)

Clearly, the primary engine behind Schwarzenegger's fortune, whatever its size, was a huge upswing in his movie earnings, beginning with "Twins," released by Universal Pictures in 1988. The comedy, the action star's first, is a testament to his business instinct.

In what was then a highly unusual deal, he decided to forgo any upfront fee in return for 15% of the studio's receipts - an arrangement that boosted his take to an enormous $30 million when the audiences bought in.

"Arnold bet on himself," said producer Tom Pollock, who ran Universal at the time. "If the movie went out and bombed, he would have made much less."

Schwarzenegger appears to have received a total of at least $300 million from his next 13 films, culminating with this year's "Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines."

If much of that money went to taxes and agents' and lawyers' cuts, the balance nonetheless provided capital for the investments that have become a growing preoccupation.

Among Schwarzenegger's business credentials, according to his official Web site, is a degree in "business and international economics" from the University of Wisconsin, Superior.

Beth George, a spokeswoman for the university, said the star graduated through the school's extended degree program, in which he completed correspondence courses and some on-campus work in what she identified as a tailor-made major - "international marketing of fitness and business administration."

Under the program's rules, he was given credit (George declined to say how much) for prior life experience.

Some who have done business with Schwarzenegger maintain that his grasp of complex numbers and deal points is impressive.

"He's not a Terminator when it comes to how he handles complex situations. He's more an analyzer than a Terminator," said Cox Castle and Nicholson's Mario Camara, a Los Angeles real estate attorney who has negotiated with Schwarzenegger several times on behalf of developers with properties for sale.

Camara is one of several people who said Schwarzenegger tends to restrict his non-Hollywood dealings to those with whom he is familiar.

In Camara's words: "Arnold only does business with people that he's known for a while. It's a form of due diligence."

Thus, Schwarzenegger has remained involved with Jim Lorimer, a decades-long associate, with whom he operates Columbus' Fitness Expo.

"Our 28-year partnership was made on a handshake, and we've never had a contract," Lorimer said.

Posted by Orrin Judd at August 10, 2003 7:48 AM