ESCONDIDO, Calif., Oct. 25 — One is the most powerful Republican in the country. The other is among the most popular. But it took an inferno in Southern California to thaw the ice between President Bush and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.
It is no secret in California or Washington that the two have never been buddy-buddy, dating from when Mr. Schwarzenegger was a top fitness adviser to Mr. Bush’s father. Mr. Bush thought little of Mr. Schwarzenegger’s first bid for governor and did not endorse him.
Mr. Schwarzenegger has taken jabs at the president on issues like climate change, stem cell research and Republican fund-raising. Though he campaigned for Mr. Bush’s re-election in 2004 in the important swing state of Ohio, Mr. Schwarzenegger snubbed Mr. Bush last year, refusing to appear with him at the Reagan Presidential Library.
“Not hanging-out pals,” Mr. Schwarzenegger once said, describing their relationship.
But they have, for the moment, become political allies. With wildfires blazing across the southern part of the California, Mr. Bush made a quick visit here on Thursday, viewing the scarred landscape by helicopter, delivering a pep talk to emergency responders and promising Californians, “We’re not going to forget you in Washington, D.C.”
Mr. Schwarzenegger was there every step of the way, from the moment Mr. Bush stepped off Air Force One, where they clapped one another on the shoulder like football teammates, through the canyon neighborhood of Rancho Bernardo, where they picked their way through charred ruins. There, they stood on a hillside, Mr. Bush’s arm draped around a woman whose home had been leveled, and lavished each other with praise.
Mr. Bush went first: “The thing I like about Governor Schwarzenegger is, he says, ‘You show me a problem, I’ll charge it. You show me a hill, I’ll go up it.’”
Mr. Schwarzenegger returned the compliment. “I call this quick action,” he said of
Mr. Bush’s response to the fires, “quicker than I expected.”
The gestures were not lost on analysts, who say both men benefit from the newfound bond. With his offers of helicopters and troops and federal money, Mr. Bush is coming to Mr. Schwarzenegger’s aid, helping him manage the crisis and look like a leader with pull in Washington.
But Mr. Schwarzenegger is coming to Mr. Bush’s aid as well, by heaping praise on the president — praise that the White House hopes can help Mr. Bush shed the damaging legacy of his administration’s response to Hurricane Katrina.
“They both get something out of it,” said John J. Pitney Jr., a political scientist at Claremont McKenna College in Claremont. “Schwarzenegger gets the cash, and Bush gets the praise. But it’s like so much in politics. It’s a union of convenience, not emotion.”
Personally and politically, the two men have little in common. Mr. Schwarzenegger, the former bodybuilder and action-movie star, is his own brand of California moderate, left-leaning on social issues and popular even with Democrats. Mr. Bush, a Texas conservative with little affinity for the Hollywood crowd, lost California twice.
“Arnold has about as much in common with George W. Bush politically as he did physically with Danny DeVito in the movie ‘Twins,’” said Garry South, a Democratic strategist here.
The official line from both camps is that the differences are philosophical, and nothing more.
“There hasn’t been complete agreement on issues, I will acknowledge that,” said Representative David Dreier, a California Republican who is close to both men. “But the kind of hyperbole that we have seen reported is a gross exaggeration.”
The public complaints have come mostly from Mr. Schwarzenegger. But one Republican close to Mr. Bush described the relationship as “not good.” He said that when the two first met, while Mr. Bush’s father was president, Mr. Schwarzenegger treated Mr. Bush dismissively, like “some son of a famous important guy,” and that Mr. Bush never forgot it.
Others say Karl Rove, Mr. Bush’s former political strategist, caused a rift. “When Arnold was thinking of running, Rove, from his perch in the White House, treated him in a very high-handed and disrespectful way,” said one former Schwarzenegger aide. “Arnold’s reaction was, ‘Who the hell is this guy?’” More on the story.
It is no secret in California or Washington that the two have never been buddy-buddy, dating from when Mr. Schwarzenegger was a top fitness adviser to Mr. Bush’s father. Mr. Bush thought little of Mr. Schwarzenegger’s first bid for governor and did not endorse him.
Mr. Schwarzenegger has taken jabs at the president on issues like climate change, stem cell research and Republican fund-raising. Though he campaigned for Mr. Bush’s re-election in 2004 in the important swing state of Ohio, Mr. Schwarzenegger snubbed Mr. Bush last year, refusing to appear with him at the Reagan Presidential Library.
“Not hanging-out pals,” Mr. Schwarzenegger once said, describing their relationship.
But they have, for the moment, become political allies. With wildfires blazing across the southern part of the California, Mr. Bush made a quick visit here on Thursday, viewing the scarred landscape by helicopter, delivering a pep talk to emergency responders and promising Californians, “We’re not going to forget you in Washington, D.C.”
Mr. Schwarzenegger was there every step of the way, from the moment Mr. Bush stepped off Air Force One, where they clapped one another on the shoulder like football teammates, through the canyon neighborhood of Rancho Bernardo, where they picked their way through charred ruins. There, they stood on a hillside, Mr. Bush’s arm draped around a woman whose home had been leveled, and lavished each other with praise.
Mr. Bush went first: “The thing I like about Governor Schwarzenegger is, he says, ‘You show me a problem, I’ll charge it. You show me a hill, I’ll go up it.’”
Mr. Schwarzenegger returned the compliment. “I call this quick action,” he said of
Mr. Bush’s response to the fires, “quicker than I expected.”
The gestures were not lost on analysts, who say both men benefit from the newfound bond. With his offers of helicopters and troops and federal money, Mr. Bush is coming to Mr. Schwarzenegger’s aid, helping him manage the crisis and look like a leader with pull in Washington.
But Mr. Schwarzenegger is coming to Mr. Bush’s aid as well, by heaping praise on the president — praise that the White House hopes can help Mr. Bush shed the damaging legacy of his administration’s response to Hurricane Katrina.
“They both get something out of it,” said John J. Pitney Jr., a political scientist at Claremont McKenna College in Claremont. “Schwarzenegger gets the cash, and Bush gets the praise. But it’s like so much in politics. It’s a union of convenience, not emotion.”
Personally and politically, the two men have little in common. Mr. Schwarzenegger, the former bodybuilder and action-movie star, is his own brand of California moderate, left-leaning on social issues and popular even with Democrats. Mr. Bush, a Texas conservative with little affinity for the Hollywood crowd, lost California twice.
“Arnold has about as much in common with George W. Bush politically as he did physically with Danny DeVito in the movie ‘Twins,’” said Garry South, a Democratic strategist here.
The official line from both camps is that the differences are philosophical, and nothing more.
“There hasn’t been complete agreement on issues, I will acknowledge that,” said Representative David Dreier, a California Republican who is close to both men. “But the kind of hyperbole that we have seen reported is a gross exaggeration.”
The public complaints have come mostly from Mr. Schwarzenegger. But one Republican close to Mr. Bush described the relationship as “not good.” He said that when the two first met, while Mr. Bush’s father was president, Mr. Schwarzenegger treated Mr. Bush dismissively, like “some son of a famous important guy,” and that Mr. Bush never forgot it.
Others say Karl Rove, Mr. Bush’s former political strategist, caused a rift. “When Arnold was thinking of running, Rove, from his perch in the White House, treated him in a very high-handed and disrespectful way,” said one former Schwarzenegger aide. “Arnold’s reaction was, ‘Who the hell is this guy?’” More on the story.
1 comment:
These two make a great team of idiots. Arnie refuse to give money for firefighters and equipment. Bush refuses to give Children's Health Care as children in California inhale smoke from the fires.
Now what's interesting is there were planes that are used to fight fires just sitting around because they needed the approval from Homeland Security or Governor yet no one made the call as California was burning. Yes two days later when the photo ops came the call was made. But if the planes had come on the first day the damage would have been small. So much for officials learning their lessons. But we must remember how quickly Iraq got those Billions of dollars.
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