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Saturday, October 11, 2003 ❑ Santa Monica Daily Press
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Arnold: An army of one or open-minded leader? BY LYNN ELBER Associated Press Writer
LOS ANGELES — All the world was a sound stage during Arnold Schwarzenegger's run for governor. He starred as the hero come to rescue California from the bad guys — self-serving politicians — and vanquish the evils of high taxes and unpopular policies. Movie catchphrases and imagery marked his campaign. “In the movies, if I played a character and I didn't like something, you know what I did? I destroyed it, I wiped it out!” Schwarzenegger shouted at one rally where a car symbolizing a tax increase was smashed. Voters applauded the theatrics, shoving Gov. Gray Davis out and the actor in. When his three-year term begins next month, will Schwarzenegger govern the way he campaigned, like a political army of one? Or will the Austrian-born immigrant who has regularly reinvented himself, from bodybuilder to action hero to political candidate, morph yet again into a statesman adept at compromise instead of combat? “If he thinks he's going to come in here and be Mr. Terminator, he will have his head handed to him,” state Senate leader John Burton, a San Francisco Democrat, told the Los Angeles Times before the election. Schwarzenegger sounded diplomatic, not fierce, during his victory speech Tuesday night. “I will call all the leaders of the Legislature, both Democrats and Republicans, and I will let them know that my door will always be open. That I want to work with them together for the good of California,” he said. But don't expect him to be a traditional pol, for better or worse, observers suggest. “What Schwarzenegger has going for him is the same thing Reagan had going for him: He can talk to people directly, he can talk over the heads of the Legislature. ... He's got a built-in audience,” said veteran political reporter Lou Cannon, whose new book, “Governor Reagan: His Rise to Power,” details Ronald Reagan's trailblazing journey from Hollywood to Sacramento a generation ago. GOP consultant Allan Hoffenblum agreed: “Arnold is news. He sells. That's
going to give him more power” in negotiating with lawmakers over the budget deficit and other issues. But one difference is this: Reagan's Hollywood specialty was light romantic comedies, the small-town melodrama “Kings Row” and a few heroic sagas such as “Knute Rockne All American.” Schwarzenegger's screen persona was shaped by violent action movies, including “Predator,” “Total Recall:” and the “Terminator” series. Reagan on film “wasn't the guy who made things happen. He was the guy who facilitated things happening. He was never an ubermensch,” said social critic Neal Gabler, author of “Life the Movie: How Entertainment Conquered Reality.” Schwarzenegger is precisely that, Gabler said, with his films espousing Hollywood values that are “about accommodating nothing. Movie values are about one individual who comes in and imposes his will.” Gabler warned that what audiences enjoy on screen is : “antithetical to the values of democratic politics.” “In an entertainment context, this is catharsis, and most moviegoers love it. In a political context, it historically has had fascist undertones with disastrous consequences,” he said in an essay on the recall. “It was Benito Mussolini, after all, who said he would make the trains run on time.” “I'm not saying that Schwarzenegger is a fascist,” Gabler elaborated in an interview. But “his appeal is fascistic.” Voters who backed Schwarzenegger see a far different picture. “He's larger than life. He will not be beholden to special interests,” said businessman David Gilmore of San Diego. Other observers warn against judging what Schwarzenegger will do in office by how his campaign was conducted. “Compare it to a thousand other candidates in the last decade and he's saying the same old stuff,” said Robert Thompson, a Syracuse University popular culture professor. “It's confident, aggressive promises.” Jack Pitney, a professor of government at Claremont McKenna College, said the moderate Republican needed those catchy movie-isms. “It's hard to rally people with moderation. If you can't rally them with moderation, you rally them with ‘Hasta la
Gang member ‘not monster,’ but still receives life sentence By The Associated Press
LOS ANGELES — A gang member was sentenced this week to life in prison with a minimum of 57 years for firing a gun down a crowded Hawthorne street, killing an 11-year-old girl and wounding another. Before Juan Baeza was sentenced, a Spanish-language translator read a letter written by his mother that said he was a respectful, loving and educated son and brother. “Juan is not a monster,” the letter said. Deputy District Attorney Brian Schirn said Baeza, a resident of Lennox who turned 25 on Thursday, had four previous felony convictions as an adult and had never shown any remorse for killing the girl and wounding her friend on Dec. 26, 2001, while shooting at a fleeing rival gang member.
A Superior Court jury deliberated just over one hour on July 23 before convicting Baesa of first-degree murder, attempted murder of the gang member, assault and being an ex-felon in possession of a handgun. Prosecution witnesses included a girl who was grazed in her temple and near her left shoulder, and a woman who dated Baeza and was with him when he fired the .40-caliber weapon. Judge Steven R. Van Sicklen said he gave the maximum sentence because Baeza's life was filled with incidents of loaded guns, crack cocaine, stolen cars and gang violence. The judge said Baeza was fortunate he was not charged with special circumstances that would have resulted in life in prison without the possibility of parole or the death penalty.