http://www.contracostatimes.com

Posted on Sun, Sep. 17, 2006

DANIEL WEINTRAUB: SYNDICATED COLUMNIST

Efforts to paint Schwarzenegger as racist fall flat

By Daniel Weintraub
COMMENTARY

ON THE SURFACE at least, the reaction to the revelation of some intemperate private remarks by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger might have looked like a classic case of partisan politics gone wild. The real story, though, was not how harshly some Democrats responded to Schwarzenegger's comments, but how many prominent Democrats instead leaped to the Republican governor's defense.

The speed with which the controversy fizzled was a reflection of Schwarzenegger's long history of courting political leaders of all stripes, his habit of maintaining civil private relations with almost everyone in politics, even those with whom he might disagree in public battles.

Schwarzenegger is a people person who spends time tending to personal connections -- in part because he enjoys doing so, but also because he knows his fellow politicians are grateful when he poses for photos with their families or places a call to one of their friends at a crucial moment. Those private moments allow lawmakers to know him as a person, not just as a governor who vetoes their bills more often than they might like.

Those connections returned big dividends last week when the governor was caught on tape dissing some Republican leaders in the Legislature and describing one Latina lawmaker as a "hot" mix of black and Latino blood. The context of his comments suggest he was referring to Assemblywoman Bonnie Garcia's personality, not her looks. But the governor's crude reference to ethnic genetics gave some of his Democratic opponents the opening they needed to attack him as racist.

Within hours after the comments were made public -- in a Los Angeles Times story based on an audiotape of the governor speaking casually with some aides in his office -- the campaign of Democrat Phil Angelides and his allies wheeled into action.

Dolores Huerta, a co-founder of the United Farm Workers union and a longtime Latino activist, described the governor's remarks as "sexual" and called on him to respect all women, "especially Latina women." California Democratic Party Chairman Art Torres said he was "offended and disturbed" by the comments. Rep. Barbara Lee, an African American Democrat from Oakland, described Schwarzenegger's words as "racist" and "disgusting."

But Garcia, the Republican lawmaker at whom the governor's comment was directed, began to undercut the uproar when she praised Schwarzenegger and, in a way, took the blame for planting the seed of ethnic stereotyping in his head.

"I love the governor because he is a straight talker just like I am," Garcia told the Times. "Very often I tell him, 'Look, I am a hot-blooded Latina.' I label myself a hot-blooded Latina that is very passionate about the issues, and this is kind of an inside joke that I have with the governor."

Garcia, a Republican ally on whose behalf the governor had just done a major fundraiser, might be expected to defend him. But the real surprise came when reporters went looking for reaction among Democrats in the Legislature and elsewhere who had not coordinated their response with the Angelides campaign. Some of them sounded as if they were speaking from prepared talking points -- from the Schwarzenegger campaign.

Richard Stapler, a spokesman for Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez of Los Angeles, dismissed the controversy as unimportant, said the speaker's relationship with the governor was "at an all-time high" and praised Schwarzenegger's work with the Latino community. All of this despite the fact that Nunez is, on paper at least, a co-chairman of the Angelides campaign.

"The governor has always been respectful towards Latinos," Stapler said in a statement.

Sen. Martha Escutia of Whittier, chairwoman of the Legislature's Latino caucus, echoed those words, saying in a statement released by her office that Schwarzenegger had "never been disrespectful of the Latino community." Assemblyman Mervyn Dymally, chairman of the Black legislative caucus, had a similar reaction.

"This is usual political banter. We do this all the time," Dymally told the Associated Press. "In this case, it just happened to be taped." Dymally said Schwarzenegger called him to apologize, but he told the governor none was needed.

"I said, 'Look, if in fact this were a crime, Willie Brown would be in jail right now,"' Dymally said, referring to the former San Francisco mayor and state Assembly speaker, an African American who was known for his acerbic comments, often with a racial tinge.

Brown, in fact, also jumped in to defend the governor. He told the San Francisco Chronicle that efforts to paint the governor as a racist only proved that his fellow Democrats were "totally and completely without any sense of humor whatsoever."

Brown said Angelides should be worried about more serious matters, such as the beating he has been taking in opinion polls so far in this race.

"Arnold has been winning every game for the last six months. It was time for something, and the Angelides people have to jump on anything they can," said Brown. "They can't get him on anything else."

And as long as the governor has friends such as Brown, it will be impossible for Angelides to portray Schwarzenegger as a racist, no matter how many of his private conversations are made public.