Posted on 12/20/2004 3:21:15 PM PST by Ol' Sparky
Report: Schwarzenegger suggests U.S. Republicans move leftward
Associated Press
BERLIN - California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger suggested in a German newspaper interview published Saturday that the Republican Party should move "a little to the left," a shift that he said would allow it to pick up new voters.
Schwarzenegger, a Republican, has taken an unorthodox approach since winning office last year - standing by a promise to toe a conservative line of fiscal matters while veering left on social issues such as gay rights and the environment.
In an interview with Germany's Sueddeutsche Zeitung daily, Schwarzenegger said that "the Republican Party currently covers only the spectrum from the right wing to the middle, and the Democratic Party covers the spectrum from the left to the middle."
"I would like the Republican Party to cross this line, move a little further left and place more weight on the center," he was quoted as saying. "This would immediately give the party 5 percent more votes without it losing anything elsewhere."
Schwarzenegger was guarded on suggestions that he harbors presidential ambitions, saying only that a debate on whether the constitution should be amended to allow foreign-born citizens to run was "overdue."
Schwarzenegger became an American citizen in 1983, 15 years after he immigrated from Austria. He has said he'd consider running for president if such an amendment passed but also taken pains to say it shouldn't be created specifically for him.
"I would like people to remember me as someone who raised standards, wherever I got involved." he was quoted as saying.
"I brought bodybuilding from nothing, I made the action film a genre, and the same goes for politics - I want to do things that no one believed possible. I would like to bring people together as governor."
It's amazing any conservative could pretend Arnold is anything but a liberal that is disaster for the Republican party and a threat to the conservative movement.
There's a difference between a RINO and a moderate-to-liberal. Pete Wilson, Christine Todd Whitman, Mike "Nurse" Bloomberg, Bill Weld, Arlen Specter, Susan Collins, Linc Chafee, and Olympia Snowe are RINOs. They attack and undercut their fellow Republicans at every turn, doing the dirty work for their Democratic pals and champaign-circuit sponsors.
I was livid that conservatives voted for Arnold, instead of McClintock. Bustamante's weak showing proved we could've elected a conservative had conservatives chosen McClintock over Arnold. But Arnold and fellow liberal Rudy Giuliani pulled out all the stops to support George Bush and the Republican party this past election. For the wonderful speech he made, for the hard work he put into Ohio, for the sacrifices - the conjugal sacrifices! - he made, Arnold deserves our respect and appreciation too much to call him a RINO.
Even if he is a lousy liberal. :^D
He should try to move California back to the center and away from socialism. What kind of "Republican" wants California to be a blue state forever?
What I have heard about him convinces me that he is a libertarian. He is also a very much the favorite of the libertarians in my country, as he is like they, an admirer of Milton Friedman.
How can someone who's essentially a sideshow in what has become a reliable left-wing/Democrat state be a threat to the conservative movement?
Da Terminator is wrapped around the left terminal. And to think there are those who want this man as President.d
is that Bill Maher libertarian or neil bortz libertarian?
sounds like anyone that will not fit into a party, people just call them a libertarian.
Yeah, it was just horrible how he stood-up at the Rublican Convention and supported President Bush as much as anyone could have.
Yeah, it was just horrible how his support more than likely helped bring in votes for the GOP.
Yeah, it's just horrible how we now have an ally in the California govenor's seat.
Yeah, it's just horrible how he was the only GOP candidate with a chance to win in the recall...And win he did!
Yeah, it's just a horrible disaster what Arnold's done.
Arnoild is a leftist. He is now using his considerable influence to try and push the Republican Party to the left. A lot of pro-life conservatives who voted for him (including some on this very forum, no doubt) should learn this lesson well. A leftist is a leftist, and will cause a lot of damage wherever he roams.
arnold banned the fifty in CA. He can get bent.
Hey RINOld, we won the election, hosue and senate under GOP control. Maybe the RATS should move right, what'cha think RINOld ?
The 'pubies don't need to move leftward. They just need to lose Bauer, Dobson, Reed, Falwell, Robertson and all of their followers.
A little more libertarian and a little less interest in controlling other's thoughts and actions would go a long way in keeping Conservatives in control of Congress and the White House.
Ahh-nold is not a liberal. Kerry is a liberal. Kennedy is a liberal. Carol Moseley-Braun and that cutest little communist in Congress, Cynthia McKinney are liberals. Ahh-nold is as normal as anyone in Hollyweed can be.
He's just following the direction of the GOP national party.
I do not know your politicians or political thinkers as well as I like to, but by quicly googling these two, it seems Boors is a defender of christian values, something a libertarian in my country would newer do. Please inform me about this entrigiuing differences, all my libertarian friends talk about libertarianism as a whole policy, you are either a libertarian or not, so as I share many of their views when it comes to economic matters, but as I am a christan, I can not be a libertarian.
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