Leader of the Brats
Matt Yglesias says that voters shouldn't let Arnold's alleged piggish behavior affect their votes (not that he would vote for him):
Bill Clinton taught us that a person can have a strong record on women's issues while treating women quite poorly in his personal life, just as LBJ showed us that a racist can end Jim Crow, while Truman and Nixon proved that anti-semites can be good friends of Israel. George W. Bush proves that a nice guy can screw the country up. This isn't to condone Schwarzennegger's misogyny (or anyone else's racism or anti-semitism), simply to suggest that it's not all that relevant to whether or not he should be governor.
Perhaps. But, if "character" is not relevant as to whether one should vote for Schwarzennegger, what is? He has no public record on which to base an assessment. The man is running on his movie star image and,
frankly, his association with the Kennedys. If he had a known record of strong support for women's rights as Clinton did, or had demonstrated a shrewd knowledge of the winds of political change as Johnson did, or had years of foreign policy experience as Nixon had, perhaps his alleged character flaws could be put into the perspective of an entire career and would not loom as large when making a decision in the voting booth.
But, Arnold has no record of anything but being a very ambitious and pampered movie star.
One thing people may not realize about Arnold is that he is peculiarly unqualified for office even by Hollywood standards. He does not produce or direct films, he doesn't run his own production company and he never risks his own money. Even Sandra Bullock and Demi Moore are more involved in the creative direction of their careers and have developed and produced their own vehicles.
Arnold is a hired gun. He comes on to a set without any responsibility for the actual nuts and bolts of raising money, adhering to the budget, maintaining the creative flow while massaging egos under strict time constraints and dealing with impossible logistics. In other words, he has been entirely removed from the day to day business and responsibility of the movie business. He shows up for work, sits in his trailer until he's called, does his bit and goes home. When the film is finished he goes on a publicity tour to promote it. That's it. It is not surprising that he would find plenty of time to be "playful" on the "rowdy" set. He isn't involved in most of the work that goes on all around him. Indeed, he probably isn't even aware of it.
There aren't a lot of big stars like this anymore. Most of them , like Tom Cruise or Tom Hanks, are producers at the least and the smart ones like Eastwood and Redford have run their careers like a business with themselves at the producing helm most of the time and often behind the camera as well. They have experience running a production, hustling for money, dealing with executives on a business level, handling other stars' egos etc. They have shown throughout their careers that they are, within their field ... leaders.
Arnold is not one of those guys. He has come a long way from his beginnings as a body builder and created a niche for himself in high priced action films that make lots of money (particularly overseas.) But, he has not shown any kind of leadership in his own life beyond touting physical fitness and making a lot of easy money.
So, how does a person evaluate someone whose life and career show no obvious qualifications for the office he is seeking? Isn't he, in fact, running solely on the idea that his character --- as personified in his movie roles --- is what qualifies him for office? Isn't he presenting himself as a real life Action Hero?
In truth, his real life (at least for the last 20 years) has been one of incredibly spoiled and princely pampering, to the point that he has absolutely no clue about what is acceptable behavior because he's been indulged beyond any normal everyday person's ability to even imagine. This is why he says things like, "No one ever came to me in my life and said to me that I did anything, that said 'I don't want you to do that, you went over the line Arnold.'"
I imagine that this is quite true. Nobody tells Arnold Schwarzenegger, "I don't want you to do that." In his world, he is completely free to act with impunity because in his world he is the pasha, the prince, the coddled "product" who is beyond the realm of normal human behavior. His power is the power of a cossetted and overindulged brat.
These accusations may or may not be true. But, they certainly do fit the profile of this man who has never done anything but seek fame and power for their own sakes. If there were anything in his life that mitigated these alleged character flaws --- intellectual development, a record of accomplishment, demonstrated leadership or even a campaign that featured a detailed and serious program and a well articulated vision --- perhaps it wouldn't be wise to take easily made and difficult to prove accusations in the last days of a campaign as a deciding factor.
But with Arnold, it's pretty much all we've got to go on.