August 16, 2003
Oh, That Liberal Media

What sort of journalist other than a viscerally liberal journalist would deem it "controversial" for a Republican candidate to have expressed admiration for other Republican politicians? Peter Hartlaub, of the San Francisco Chronicle writes:

Some of [Schwarzenegger's] more controversial statements have delved into politics.

"When I came to this country, I was in heaven, because Richard Nixon was president and Reagan was governor of California," Schwarzenegger told Playboy in 1988. "I said, 'This is great. This is right up my alley.' "

Perhaps Hartlaub thinks it is controversial that someone in 1988 would have praised Nixon, who resigned in 1974 because of Watergate. But all Schwarzenegger did was to describe his feelings upon his arrival to the United States, years before Watergate and at a time when Nixon had wide support.

On the other hand, the one part of the statement that really was potentially controversial -- a factual error -- seems to have been lost on Hartlaub. Nixon was not, in fact, the President when Schwarzenegger came to the United States. Schwarzenegger arrived here in 1968. Nixon became President in 1969.

Posted by Stefan Sharkansky at August 16, 2003 11:53 AM
Comments

Big deal. Maybe Nixon was already elected.

Posted by: Patterico on August 17, 2003 10:07 PM

Unlikely he was already elected, but more likely that he was in office by the time Arnold had gotten his bearings and figured out what was going on, politically.

Posted by: Xrlq on August 17, 2003 10:17 PM

My point (made a bit abruptly and perhaps rudely, on reflection) was that we don't seem to know from the article.

Xlrq's point is also a possibility. Don't see it as a big deal in any event.

Posted by: Patterico on August 18, 2003 06:20 AM

It's a big deal because Peter Hartlaub didn't bother to call Arnold's office and ask for help with the quote. It's one thing for someone speaking to make a minor error or be unclear (Xrlq's post is the likely scenario), it's another for someone to publish something squishy.

Posted by: jc on August 18, 2003 02:09 PM

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Posted by: Sloppy Cumshots on March 28, 2005 05:17 PM
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