Thread: Schwarzenegger appeals to conservatives on immigration

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Posted on Sat, Aug. 19, 2006



Schwarzenegger appeals to conservative

s on immigrationLAURA KURTZMAN
Associated Press

LOS ANGELES - Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, seeking to shore up support among conservatives, told the state GOP convention Saturday that he would be tougher on illegal immigration than Democratic opponent Phil Angelides.

"My opponent wants to pull the National Guard off the border. He wants to give undocumented workers California drivers licenses," Schwarzenegger said, as a few in the lunchtime crowd at the Century Plaza Hotel hissed. "His policies are disastrous."

Angelides, in a conference call with reporters, accused Schwarzenegger of using the issue to divide Californians and said the governor was "stirring up his anti-immigrant right wing base."

But the state treasurer also acknowledged he has said he would remove the guard troops from the border if he were elected governor. Angelides has also voiced support for allowing illegal immigrants to get drivers licenses.

Schwarzenegger's use the immigration issue was a switch for a campaign that until now has been focused almost single-mindedly on opposition to new taxes.

Immigration is a sore spot for Schwarzenegger, who has staked out a middle position in an intensely polarizing debate. While blaming the federal government for falling down on the job of policing the border with Mexico, Schwarzenegger has opposed building a border fence. He supports a temporary worker program and giving illegal immigrants a path to citizenship.

Conservative talk show hosts have lambasted his moderate views, but his campaign manager said polls show he still has the overwhelming support of his party

"There's a lot of disagreement on the question of immigration in both parties," said Steve Schmidt, who said the governor had a pragmatic view of the illegal immigration problem. "This governor is somebody who deals with reality."

In his speech, Schwarzenegger never mentioned Angelides by name, as he sought to undermine his positions on taxes, crime and health care. The governor referred to Angelides as "my opponent" and to Democrats as "our friends.

But even as he made a show of civility, the governor got in a few jabs.

He mocked Angelides for taking too long to endorse Jessica's Law, an initiative on the November ballot that would toughen penalties for sexual offenders.

"Unlike my opponent, I didn't have to study Jessica's law for one year to know in my heart that protecting our children is absolutely the right thing to do," he said, as the audience laughed and applauded.

Toward the end of his speech, Schwarzenegger made a sarcastic allusion to Angelides' past as a real estate developer, an unpopular job description in environmentally minded California.

Adopting an exaggeratedly serious tone, the governor said, "Even though we disagree with him, I think it is very important not to demonize our opponent. Because after Nov. 7, we will wish him well as he returns to his successful career in real estate."

With its more partisan tone, the speech was something of a departure for the governor, who has spent the year burnishing his moderate credentials in the hopes of winning back middle-of-the-road voters.

Still, he did not deign to be seen with the other more conservative Republicans who are running for statewide office. On stage, he appeared only with Secretary of State Bruce McPherson, himself a moderate Republican from Santa Cruz.

The crowd received the governor's speech warmly, though even some of his supporters said he did not go far enough on immigration.

"He should have put more teeth in it," said Steven Sarkis, an engineer from Orange County. "Like what he's going to do about all the illegals here."

There were other indications that the Republican stalwarts at the convention were not entirely in sync with the governor.

A committee recommended against supporting the affordable housing component of the $37.3 billion bond package the governor is campaigning for in November, and decided to remain neutral on the education bond. They endorsed the levee and transportation bonds.

The party's 600 delegates will decide whether to endorse the bonds on Sunday.






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© 2006 AP Wire and wire service sources. All Rights Reserved.
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Arnold doesn't have to be strong on illegal immigration, he can play the moderate approach because his opponent is so extreme pro-illegal.

You're right, Jean.

And who loses ? The American people who live in California, who like Americans who live in Florida are desperate for someone to take a firm stand and go the whole nine yards on enforcing immigration laws to the T.

Here we go again.

Was this Arnold's flip or the flop on immigration? He changes positions so much I can't keep track.

http://www.presstelegram.com/news/ci_4209906

Article Launched: 08/19/2006 10:12:00 PM PDT

Governor stumps at GOP convention
Politics: He pledges not to raise taxes while criticizing opponent Angelides.
Rick Orlov, Staff writer


CENTURY CITY - Reaching out Saturday to doubters in his own Republican Party, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger portrayed the governor's race as a battle for the future of California with him at the helm, fighting efforts to increase taxes and stop the gains the state has made.

"Three years ago, I asked you to vote for me as an act of faith," Schwarzenegger told a luncheon crowd of nearly 1,000 GOP delegates at their fall convention. "Today, I ask for it as a vote of confidence."

With Schwarzenegger concerned about drawing his conservative base to the polls Nov. 7 in his election battle against Democrat Phil Angelides, the governor sought to assure the right that he is with them on key issues of taxation, immigration, public safety and education.

And it was on taxes that he particularly appeared to score points with the generally polite audience, winning sustained applause when he pledged to not raise taxes in a second term and criticized proposals made by Angelides.

"When I was elected, I said California would be back," Schwarzenegger said. "Everyone can see California is back and the difference between us and (Democrats) is they want to raise taxes. Our opponent has never met a tax he doesn't like or a tax he won't hike."

Angelides, in a conference call with reporters, issued a strong rebuke to the governor's speech, saying Schwarzenegger "either doesn't understand government or is purposely misleading people about my positions."

"He knows I am proposing to reduce taxes on the middle class and he is purposefully misleading voters," Angelides said. "I'm saddened the governor has chosen to take the path of divisiveness.

"He is hearing the footsteps of the right wing in his party, and he is doing all he can to hold on to his power," Angelides said.

For the governor, his speech and brief appearance at the convention were designed to remind Republicans that even if they are not satisfied with all of his policies, he offers them a better choice than Angelides.

While he offered little in the way of specifics, the governor pledged to work on a variety of issues including education and health care.

"Education is the civil rights issue of the 21st century," Schwarzeneggger said, borrowing a line used by Democratic Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa in his quest to change the Los Angeles Unified School District.

The governor pointed to $55 billion budgeted for education this year in California and said he wants to see a system that supports more charter schools. He said he also wants to see increased parental choices in schools for their children, although he fell short of endorsing a voucher system for schools.

On health care, Schwarzenegger said he will attempt to do what he accomplished by reforming the workers' compensation system.

"We reformed it not by spending more money, but by bringing all the people to the table and working out a change," Schwarzenegger said. "Today, workers' compensation premiums are 45 percent less."

Schwarzenegger also told delegates he would be better for the state than Angelides on immigration issues - sending National Guard troops to the borders, opposing drivers' licenses for illegal immigrants and supporting English-language immersion programs.

Angelides said raising the issue of immigration was similar to the campaign of former Gov. Pete Wilson and an attempt to use it as a wedge issue to divide voters.

Campaign strategist Steve Schmidt said the appearance by the governor was part of an ongoing effort to unify Republicans - but not by appealing to dissidents.

"I like where we are," Schmidt said, referring to polls showing the governor leading Angelides. "We are not the party that's fractured. This governor continues to have strong support from Republicans, Democrats and independents. It's the other guys who are having trouble keeping their party together."

Conservative GOP consultant Steve Frank, however, questioned whether the strategy will keep the party together.

"There are a lot of people in this party who don't see much of a difference between Schwarzenegger and Angelides," Frank said. "Angelides is supporting more taxes now and Schwarzenegger is supporting more taxes later with his bond issues."

Rick Orlov can be reached at (213) 978-0390 or rick.orlov@dailynews.com

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.c ... MPAIGN.TMP

Governor speaks to GOP right
At party convention he uses immigration to attack Angelides and appeal to conservatives
- Carla Marinucci and Tom Chorneau, Chronicle Political Writers

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, aiming to reassure conservative Republican activists of his tough stance on the hot-button issue of immigration, accused Democratic opponent Phil Angelides of supporting "failed" border control policies that would be "disastrous" for California -- including providing driver's licenses for illegal immigrants.

"We must ... strengthen our borders and reform our broken immigration system in a comprehensive way,'' Schwarzenegger said to an audience of 650 Republican activists at the state GOP convention.

While noting that America is a nation of immigrants, Schwarzenegger said "we are a nation of laws, and we will continue to insist that the federal government gets its act together, does its job, and secures our borders once and for all.''

"And that's why we put the National Guard on our border,'' the Republican governor said, met by polite applause from much of the audience and cheers of "Four More Years" from orange-shirted campaign volunteers.

The governor, although he didn't mention Angelides by name, said his opponent "wants to pull the National Guard off the border.'' As some delegates booed, the governor added, "he wants to give undocumented workers California driver's licenses. His policies are disastrous.''

Schwarzenegger, during the convention speech at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza, also emphasized his support for English-immersion language education, saying to cheers that "being an American means learning English ... I know because I did. Not that it's perfect, but I did.''

Angelides, in a conference call with reporters Saturday, accused the governor of trying to inflame passions on immigration for his political gain.

"I'm saddened that the governor decided to interject divisiveness into this race," said Angelides, the state treasurer. "He's decided to inflame the passions of his right-wing base. He knows better."

Asked to specify the inflammatory elements of Schwarzenegger's speech, Angelides couldn't name any. Instead, he said the governor's general use of the immigration issue was wrong.

The treasurer, switching topics, charged Schwarzenegger with distorting Angelides' record on taxes, which includes recent proposals to cut taxes for California families earning less than $100,000 a year.

"He's trying to scare people into thinking that I would make hard- working people pay more," Angelides said.

With less than three months until the November election, the Republican governor's keynote address was considered an important step in his effort to maintain the backing of conservative Republicans, including many activists who fear Schwarzenegger has wandered too far to the political left in his campaign to win over Democrats and independents.

Schwarzenegger won the fall 2003 recall election with support from Democratic and independent voters, who turned on him dramatically last year when the governor proposed a slew of special election ballot measurers seen as conservative and anti-union.

Angelides and other top Democrats have accused Schwarzenegger of trying to fool voters by reversing field now and distancing himself from the unpopular Republican president and a slate of more conservative Republicans running for statewide office. Indeed, during the weekend convention, Schwarzenegger never appeared with the other GOP candidates running for statewide office. Campaign officials insisted there was no snub, only time conflicts to blame.

Schwarzenegger, in Saturday's speech to the party's true believers, cast the election as a dramatic difference in values and ideas with the Angelides, whom he said favored big government and more spending on the economy, education and health care. He argued that under his leadership, "California is back.''

In a chorus he repeated nearly half a dozen times during the speech, the governor defined the election as a chance for Californians to say "no to the policies of the past, and yes to the dreams of the future.''

Schwarzenegger -- who has vowed not to raise taxes -- attacked Angelides' proposals to raise taxes. The Democrat has proposed tax hikes on corporations and the wealthiest Californians to pay for programs including public education.

"Their prescription is a dose of bad medicine, very bad medicine,'' said Schwarzenegger, arguing that "our opponent wants to raise your taxes by at least $18 billion.''

"He wants to tax virtually everyone, everywhere. He wants to increase the car tax, the sales tax, the property tax, farm equipment tax, the alcohol tax, and he even wants to tax you when you go and get a tune-up on your car.

"Our opponent has never met a tax he doesn't like, or a tax he won't hike,'' Schwarzenegger said to laughs. "His message to us is more taxes. Well, here's our message to him,'' leading the group in chants of "no."

Political analyst Sherry Bebitch Jeffe said the Republican governor "laid out his case, as he needs to,'' with an upbeat message that stressed his accomplishments and a forward-looking view.

She said the two candidates have staked out positions that are predictable -- and necessary to fire up their core voters.

Some conservative leaders at the convention, including those who had been openly skeptical of the governor, said his direct appeal was effective.

"He was surprisingly credible,'' said Shawn Steele, a past GOP state chairman. "There was a great deal of concern on whether he would fold ... on the issue of driver's licenses for illegal aliens,'' Steele said. "But he restated his firm opposition ... and underlined it in red.''

As a result, Steele characterized the mood of conservatives as "not a white-lathered enthusiasm but buoyancy -- because it looks clear that Arnold is winning, and that he will have coattails" for other GOP candidates.

Meanwhile, in a move that provided some support for Schwarzenegger on a critical issue, Republican Party leaders also agreed Saturday to endorse much of the $37.1 billion in borrowing that will be on the ballot in November for building new roads, schools and water projects. Schwarzenegger proposed the big building program in January and helped push the bond plan through the Legislature but has faced some opposition in his own party.

Here's the LA Times and San Diego Tribune's articles on Arnold.

http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la ... s-politics

CALIFORNIA ELECTIONS
Schwarzenegger Tries to Calm GOP Anger
The governor touts guardsmen on the border at a convention in Century City but fails to score points for his massive spending plan.
By Michael Finnegan and Robert Salladay
Times Staff Writers

August 20, 2006

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger tried to narrow his rift with conservatives Saturday by casting himself as tougher on illegal immigration than his Democratic challenger, Phil Angelides, but failed to quell a Republican revolt over his call for billions in borrowing for housing and school construction.

At a time when Republican candidates nationwide are tapping public anger over illegal immigration, Schwarzenegger made his most aggressive move to date to turn the issue to his advantage against Angelides.

The Republican governor told party loyalists at a state GOP convention in Century City that he had put National Guard troops on the Mexican border — as demanded by President Bush — to help federal authorities "get their act together."

"My opponent wants to pull the National Guard off the border," Schwarzenegger told the crowd of several hundred in a hotel ballroom. "He wants to give undocumented workers California driver's licenses. His policies are disastrous."

Schwarzenegger's record on immigration has drawn the anger of many conservatives who consider his position too lax. At the party convention, some delegates, along with Republican U.S. Senate nominee Richard Mountjoy, took exception to Schwarzenegger's support for a guest worker program and a plan to put illegal immigrants on a path to citizenship.

"I disagree with the governor on that issue, as does almost every other statewide candidate" on the Republican ticket, Mountjoy said.

To quiet conservative grumbling, Schwarzenegger also pounded Angelides, the state treasurer, for supporting higher taxes.

Waving a fist in the air, the governor said his rival "wants to increase the car tax, the sales tax, the property tax, the farm-equipment tax, the income tax, the alcohol tax, and he even wants to tax you when you go and get a tune-up for your car." (Apart from a plan to raise income taxes for the well-to-do, Angelides has renounced those past positions.)

The boisterous call-and-response that ensued belied the tension between the moderate governor and the conservatives who dominate the state party organization. "What do we say to more taxes?" he shouted.

"No!" they called back.

"What do we say to more government spending?"

"No!"

But Schwarzenegger's own record on state spending stirred an open rebellion. His political team scrambled to gain the party's formal support for $42 billion in construction bonds on the Nov. 7 ballot, but some delegates called the borrowing fiscally irresponsible.

A party committee refused to endorse all of the bond measures, which would fund the most costly state building program in California history. Instead, the panel defied Schwarzenegger by voting to oppose a $2.8-billion housing plan (Proposition 1C) and take no stand on a $10.4-billion school construction proposal (Proposition 1D). The committee also rejected Schwarzenegger's request for party backing of Proposition 84, a $5.4-billion batch of water projects.

Still, the committee agreed to his request for party support for a $19.9-billion roads-and-ports plan (Proposition 1B) and $4.1 billion in disaster preparation projects, including levee repairs (Proposition 1E).

The panel's actions, which are up for a ratification vote today, followed sharp remarks by conservative critics of Schwarzenegger's fiscal record. Anti-tax advocate Tom Hudson of Placer County also told the party committee that Democrats who control the Legislature could not be trusted to spend the construction money wisely.

"We are giving them a giant blank check, and I guarantee you that's not going to work out well if you live in a Republican's district," he said.

The party gathering illustrated the delicate balance that Schwarzenegger must strike to maintain his strong core of conservative support while reaching out to moderates whose votes he also needs to win.

Even as he took a tough posture on immigration and taxes Saturday, Schwarzenegger kept his distance from Mountjoy and several other more conservative candidates on his party's statewide ticket in the Nov. 7 election.

All of them crave the media attention he draws because none is well known, yet Schwarzenegger appeared alone on stage and did not mention their names. (Democrats have tried to spotlight the Republican ticket's lack of diversity, which could dampen Schwarzenegger's appeal. It is composed of seven white men.)

This morning, Schwarzenegger will underscore his calculated detachment from his party's conservative wing with a visit to First AME Church in South Los Angeles. It is one of California's largest black churches and normally a must stop for Democrats, but Angelides has yet to request a chance to visit, as Schwarzenegger did, said Kerman Maddox, who handles political matters for the church.

In response to Schwarzenegger, Angelides told reporters in a conference call that the governor was using illegal immigration to stir up voters and "doing what his Bush-Cheney campaign team told him to do … which is to distort, distort, distort, scare, scare, scare, lie, lie, lie."

"Now he is hearing footsteps from the right wing of his party and he is kowtowing to them, raising the issue of immigration to inflame the passions of his right-wing base," Angelides said. "It's sad the governor is doing this, and it shows he doesn't have core values."

About two dozen opponents of illegal immigration staged a rally outside the convention hotel on Avenue of the Stars, where they waved U.S. flags and complained about Schwarzenegger and Bush. Inside, Jim Gilchrist, founder of the Minuteman citizen border patrol group, said the governor had "better start telling people whether he is for open borders or for protecting California."

"I assume what he had to say on immigration was probably something ineffectual, innocuous and a display of his inability to engage in tough love, which is a necessity for good leadership," said Gilchrist, who did not hear the governor's speech.

The Republicans running for other statewide jobs were relegated to a smaller crowd at a Friday dinner, where their speeches were punctuated by bursts of "You're a Grand Old Flag" from a brass band on stage behind them.

Claude Parrish, the nominee for treasurer, reminisced about working for President Nixon's 1972 campaign for reelection. He also fondly recalled the Republican winner of the 1966 treasurer's race. "Ivy Baker Priest did a darn good job, and I'm going to try and follow in her footsteps," he said.

Chuck Poochigian, the Fresno state senator running for attorney general, unleashed a blistering attack on his Democratic rival, former Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown, saying the Oakland mayor had long been on the "kooky fringe of politics and policy."

"He turned our Supreme Court into a national laughingstock," Poochigian said.

Steve Poizner, the Silicon Valley entrepreneur who faces Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante in the race for insurance commissioner, mocked his Democratic opponent for suggesting that his effort to lose weight could inspire others to do the same, lowering insurance costs as the obesity epidemic wanes.

"I'm the lucky guy who gets to run against Cruz Bustamante," Poizner said.

Also hammering Democrats were Republican controller hopeful Tony Strickland and the evening's emcee, lieutenant governor candidate Tom McClintock, who called the coming election a stark choice between contrasting fiscal policies.

"It is a choice between a leadership team with a proven record of reducing the taxes and the regulations that have been crushing Californians and a leadership team with a proven record of increasing those burdens," he said.

In response, state Democratic Party spokesman Jeff Millman said: "It's unfortunate the Republican candidates were spewing hatred and personal attacks rather than explaining how they are going to improve people's lives."




http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/stat ... 20gov.html

Governor tries to rally support among party


Immigration is topic at state convention
By John Marelius
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
August 20, 2006

LOS ANGELES – Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger sought to clarify mixed signals he has sent over illegal immigration as he moved yesterday to solidify skeptical conservatives behind his re-election candidacy by denouncing the immigration policies of his Democratic opponent as “disastrous.”

“My opponent wants to pull the National Guard off the border. He wants to give undocumented workers California driver's licenses,” Schwarzenegger said of Democratic gubernatorial nominee Phil Angelides in a speech to the California Republican Party convention here. “His policies are disastrous.”

The governor has recently run afoul of hard-core illegal immigration opponents by renouncing his support for the Proposition 187 ballot measure, saying he regretted praising the Minuteman citizens border watch group and expressing surprise at the “intensity of prejudice” he encountered at a La Mesa campaign event.

The comments have made him a regular target on conservative talk radio and raised alarms with conservatives in his own party who have nursed a variety of misgivings about Schwarzenegger.

While Schwarzenegger has not spelled out an immigration fix in detail, he made clear yesterday that he favors an approach along the lines of the one advocated by President Bush and embodied in U.S. Senate legislation that would enhance border enforcement, create a guest worker program and offer some of those currently in the country illegally the opportunity to eventually become citizens.

“The federal government must strengthen our borders and deal with those here illegally in a reasonable way,” he said.

Schwarzenegger's words did not set well with activists who call for tough border enforcement only.

“Is he for border enforcement and the rule of law or is he not?” said Minuteman founder Jim Gilchrist of Orange County. “He can't have it both ways and be a good leader.”

Meanwhile, Angelides condemned Schwarzenegger's rhetoric as inflammatory and divisive. “The governor is making it very clear that he's trying to use this as a wedge issue,” Angelides said in a conference call with reporters shortly after the governor's speech.

“He's doing it today at this convention, inflaming people's passion, stirring up his right-wing base,” the Democrat said.

Angelides, the state treasurer, acknowledged that Schwarzenegger was correct about his opposition to deploying the National Guard, saying border enforcement is not the state's responsibility.

“When he implies that I want to pull the National Guard off the border, that's true,” he said. “What I also want to do is get the president to do his job.”

After the disastrous 2005 special-election battle sent the governor's popularity into a tailspin, Schwarzenegger's re-election prospects have brightened to the extent that it is once again an article of faith in Republican circles that he will win a second term on Nov. 7 by a comfortable margin.

Republicans may be confident, but not all of them are happy.

A GOP committee delivered a split decision over whether to endorse the package of public works bond issues that have become a centerpiece of his re-election campaign.

The committee voted to endorse Proposition 1b, the transportation bond, and Proposition 1e to repair levees. But it opposed the Proposition 1c housing bond and took no position on the education bond, Proposition 1d. Those endorsements will stand unless overturned today by the full convention or, in the event of a lack of a quorum, the party executive board.

Conservative blogger Jon Fleischman, former executive director of the state Republican Party, said the low attendance at this weekend's convention reflects disenchantment with Schwarzenegger's overtures to Democrats since the special election.

“A lot of Republicans that I talk to aren't here because they didn't want to get into it with the governor,” Fleischman said. “They aren't happy with his shifts to the left and so they didn't want to come to the convention.”

Schwarzenegger in his speech appealed to Republicans who are unenthusiastic about his candidacy in the time-honored way – by telling them how much worse they would find the alternative.

“My opponent wants to raise your taxes by at least $18 billion,” the governor said. “He wants to tax virtually everyone, everywhere. He wants to increase the car tax, the sales tax, the property tax, the farm equipment tax, the income tax, the alcohol tax and he even wants to tax you when you get a tune-up for your car. My opponent has never met a tax he doesn't like or a tax he won't hike.”

Angelides, who has called for tax increases of more than $6 billion, angrily accused Schwarzenegger of distorting his stands.

“The governor knows better than to make false charges about my position on taxes,” the Democrat fumed in the conference call with reporters.

“This phony number that they have cooked up is just that. Either the governor is ignorant about government or he is not telling the truth.”

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August 20, 2006
Immigration May Tip Vote in California
By RANDAL C. ARCHIBOLD
LOS ANGELES, Aug. 19 — Illegal immigration has long been a political minefield in California, making and breaking political careers. Now, with Congress considering the most sweeping changes to immigration laws in two decades, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is learning just how troublesome that terrain can be in an election year.

No Republican candidate for governor or president since the 1970’s has won in California without getting at least one-third of the Hispanic vote, which Mr. Schwarzenegger, a Republican, achieved in a wide-open recall election in 2003. In his bid for re-election in November, he faces the difficult task of courting both Latino voters and his core conservative supporters, two groups that are often far apart on immigration.

The immigration debate in Congress has also rippled into several other races for governor, including those in Oklahoma, Massachusetts, Colorado and Arizona. Democrats and Republicans are carefully staking out their positions, often with intense political calculation.

Gov. Janet Napolitano of Arizona, a Democrat, has sought to appear tough, declaring a state of emergency last year in the four border counties that bear the brunt of the flow of illegal immigrants from Mexico. But this spring, with a commanding lead in the polls, Ms. Napolitano rejected bills from the Republican-dominated Legislature intended to make life harder for illegal residents and the businesses that employ them, questioning the legality and effectiveness of the proposals.

In Massachusetts, two of the three Democrats in the primary race for governor have said they would consider using state troopers to enforce immigration law, as Gov. Mitt Romney, a Republican, has proposed.

“It’s like Iraq,” said Jennifer E. Duffy, who tracks governors’ races for The Cook Political Report, a nonpartisan newsletter in Washington. “It may not be the driving issue of a campaign, but every candidate has a position that has been articulated.”

As a Republican in a state dominated by Democrats, Mr. Schwarzenegger has a difficult task in balancing the two competing constituencies, Ms. Duffy said, because “if just Republicans vote for him, he loses.”

So one week Mr. Schwarzenegger defends his support for the Minutemen civilian patrols on the border that many conservatives strongly endorse, and the next he distances himself from an anti-illegal-immigrant ballot initiative passed in 1994 that galvanized Latino political involvement on the side of Democrats.

At a recent town-hall-style campaign appearance by Mr. Schwarzenegger in Orange County, Larry Collins, vice president of a local Republican club, asked the first question, and it was about border security.

Mr. Collins said later that although he supported Mr. Schwarzenegger, he wanted the governor to take a harder line on immigration. He said he could not bear hearing more and more Spanish being spoken in the county, and he wondered about the legality of the newcomers. “We are being overloaded with a potential hazard,” Mr. Collins said.

Even as Mr. Schwarzenegger seeks to hold on to voters like Mr. Collins, he is striving to attract Latinos. His aides concede that if the election is close, Latino voters could prove vital, and so they have embarked on a campaign to attract them, particularly native-born middle-class and professional Latinos.

The aides predict that these Latinos are more likely to approve of Mr. Schwarzenegger’s stance on other issues, such as his advocacy for small businesses and tax cuts and his promises to improve education and health care.

On Monday, Mr. Schwarzenegger sent one of the nation’s most prominent Latino Republican businessmen, Hector V. Barreto, the former head of the Small Business Administration and a board member of the United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, to court Latino business owners and others in San Francisco.

“This will be an example of how we’re going to run campaigns differently in the Latino community for both Republicans and Democrats,” said Matthew Dowd, Mr. Schwarzenegger’s chief strategist, who has set a goal of getting 35 percent of the Latino vote.

Mr. Schwarzenegger has given no speeches specifically on immigration reform. But in newspaper opinion articles and at campaign stops he has said that he generally supports President Bush’s advocacy of more border security, while he also backs measures that would steer some illegal immigrants toward citizenship.

As the governor of California, he reluctantly sent National Guard troops to the border this summer at the request of Mr. Bush, but rejected another request for more troops.

Still, at a speech on Saturday at the state Republican Party’s summer convention in Los Angeles, Mr. Schwarzenegger sought to rally the party faithful in part by criticizing his Democratic opponent’s objection to having the Guard at the border. He also attacked his opponent, Phil Angelides, the state treasurer, for his support for allowing illegal immigrants to get driver’s licenses, as a public safety measure.

“My opponent wants to pull the National Guard off the border,” Mr. Schwarzenegger said. “He wants to give undocumented workers California driver’s licenses. His policies are disastrous.”

Mr. Schwarzenegger also urged immigrants to learn English, offering himself, tongue in cheek, as an example.

“Being an American means learning English,’’ said Mr. Schwarzenegger, a naturalized citizen from Austria whose accent supplies late-night comediens with endless material. “I know because I did, not that it is perfect nearly mind you, but I did. And we must also help immigrants get the same tutoring I got so they can learn English as quickly as possible.’’

Democrats are quick to point out that Mr. Schwarzenegger once said the United States should “close our borders,” only to clarify the statement to “secure our borders” after being criticized. Democrats view his back and forth as political expediency.

“We have seen the governor waffle and flip-flop,” State Senator Gil Cedillo, Democrat of Los Angeles, said in a conference call with reporters last week. He called on Mr. Schwarzenegger to debate Mr. Angelides on Spanish-language television.

Mr. Angelides is expected to get most of the Latino vote and has endorsements from several high-ranking elected Latino Democrats, with the glaring exception of Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa of Los Angeles, a Democrat and Mexican-American. To the consternation of Mr. Angelides’s supporters, the mayor has withheld a promised endorsement while he rallies bipartisan support, including Mr. Schwarzenegger’s, for legislation to give him a role in running the public schools.

A Field Poll in July showed Mr. Angelides leading Mr. Schwarzenegger among Latinos by 58 percent to 22 percent, with 20 percent undecided or supporting other candidates. The poll, which sampled 992 registered voters from July 10 to 23 and has a margin of error of 3.8 percentage points, showed Mr. Schwarzenegger leading over all among likely voters, 45 percent to 37 percent.

Everywhere he stops, Mr. Schwarzenegger is mobbed for autographs, and it is no different among Hispanic voters (the governor has let it be known that he has starred in movies filmed in Mexico).

In July, Mr. Schwarzenegger fixed tortillas at the Olvera Street market, where tourists flock for a carefully constructed taste of old Mexican Los Angeles. The visit came days after news photographers snapped him grinning with Mr. Villaraigosa at the National Council of La Raza convention here.

Mr. Schwarzenegger rarely fails to highlight his own immigrant tale of arriving nearly penniless from Austria in 1968 — he is a naturalized United States citizen — and finding success in bodybuilding and Hollywood.

“I was able to make my dream turn into reality,” Mr. Schwarzenegger said at a stop in Orange County.

He has also appointed several Hispanics to his campaign and administration staff, including Arnoldo Torres, a former political analyst at the Spanish-language broadcaster Univision, who is a senior adviser to the campaign. Mr. Schwarzenegger has also visited several heavily Latino neighborhoods and has made himself especially accessible to Spanish-language news media. (Mr. Schwarzenegger declined to be interviewed for this article).

“I’m glad he is working toward getting the Latino community,” said Martin Gonzalez, 35, an independent voter who watched Mr. Schwarzenegger campaign recently at a bakery started by Cuban immigrants in Glendale. “He is doing it now because now he knows we are important.”

Will he vote for Mr. Schwarzenegger?

“I just don’t know, but maybe,” Mr. Gonzalez said, adding with a laugh, “My kids like his movies.”



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