Schwarzenegger Vs. Beatty: Battle Of The Reformed-Playboy- Turned-Politico Stars
It was California politics per usual this past Saturday, in all its sobering, dignified glory, as Warren Beatty, with steadfast she-unit Annette Bening at his side, tried to crash a Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger political rally at a San Diego airport hangar:
As the couple and their supporters approached the entrance, they were intercepted by Schwarzenegger aide Darrel Ng, who blocked their path. Standing with Beatty and Bening were officials from the teachers and nurses unions, among the governor's most dogged opponents.
Ng, 27, asked if he could help. Beatty replied that they were there to hear the governor speak. Ng said he would have to check whether they were on the list of invited guests and ran off, while other aides huddled nervously nearby.
Ng returned a few minutes later and asked Beatty and Bening to spell their names. Checking a list, he told them that they were not on it. Todd Harris, another Schwarzenegger aide, came over.
"Here's the problem," Harris said. "If your people had shown a modicum of respect when you came to our events, if you hadn't come with bullhorns and been screaming, I wouldn't really have a problem with it."
Beatty promised to listen quietly, but Harris refused. "If that guarantee had been made a year ago, it would have been great," Harris said, referring broadly to the governor's opponents.[...]"Do we need a wristband to listen to our governor?" Bening asked. "He represents all of us."
Lady MacBeatty makes a good point: it speaks volumes about our current political climate that the same plastic-and-adhesive-jewelry system associated with all-you-can-drink Sunset Junction margaritas is now the gatekeeper to our elected officials.
As for widespread rumors that this high-profile episode of Bulworth'd was an unofficial kick-off to a gubernatorial election campaign, Beatty told one AP reporter:
"I don't want to run for governor. I want to say what I think."
He speaks as if the two were mutually exclusive; the beauty of our state, however, is that the latter, in conjunction with at least one successful big screen comic book adaptation, is really all the experience you need to be qualified to do the former.
