Field Poll confirms bad news about recall

The latest Field Poll confirms that Davis and Bustamante are in deep shit.

The poll found that likely voters were planning to vote "yes" to recall Davis by a 57 percent to 39 percent margin. The poll also showed that Schwarzenegger, the Republican front-runner, was favored over the leading Democratic candidate Cruz Bustamante, by 36 percent to 26 percent.

The Field Poll has nailed just about every election it has polled. However, the Schwarzenegger "groping" allegations, and his subsequent admission and apology are getting a ton of play. I still think everyone knew the guy was a sleaze and it won't affect his electoral chances, but we'll see. It'll be interesting to see how much women's support he loses, and how well McClintock will be able to capitalize on the admissions with religious Republicans.

A much bigger deal are allegations that Arnold idolized Hitler. Sounds bizarre, but here it is from ABC News:

ABCNEWS obtained a copy of an unpublished book proposal with quotes from what was called a "verbatim transcript" of an interview Schwarzenegger gave in 1975 while making the film Pumping Iron.

Asked who his heroes are, he is quoted as saying, "I admired Hitler, for instance, because he came from being a little man with almost no formal education, up to power. I admire him for being such a good public speaker and for what he did with it."

He is also quoted as saying he wished he could have an experience, "like Hitler in the Nuremberg stadium. And have all those people scream at you and just being total agreement whatever you say."

Woa! And the worst part? When asked about it, Arnold responded,

"I don't remember any of those comments because I always despise everything that Hitler stood for," Schwarzenegger said, calling the Nazi leader a "disgusting villain."

He "doesn't remember those comments"? Jesus. If he has always despised Hitler and everything he stood for, he wouldn't have to "remember" whether he praised him or not. The answer would've been a flat out "NO".

Weird.

So now California is poised to elect a sexual harrassing Nazi? Just shoot me now.

The polls still have some movement left in them. This race is not over. It's bizarre, but it's not over.

Posted October 03, 2003 08:26 AM | Comments (143)