I don't know about you, but the timing of this is pretty 'convient' if you ask me.Harassment Allegations Dog Schwarzenegger
By JIM WASSERMAN, Associated Press Writer
SACRAMENTO, Calif. - As Arnold Schwarzenegger prepared to capitalize on his lead in polls with a state bus tour on Thursday, fresh allegations surfaced that he sexually harassed women in the past.
Six women accused the Republican actor in interviews with the Los Angeles Times of groping them on movie sets and in other settings over the last three decades, the newspaper reported in Thursday editions.
Schwarzenegger spokesman Sean Walsh denied the allegations in comments to the Times, saying the actor had not engaged in improper conduct toward women. Walsh said the claims were a political attack in the days leading up to the Oct. 7 recall election.
"We believe Democrats and others are using this to try to hurt Arnold Schwarzenegger's campaign," Walsh said. "We believe that this is coming so close before the election, something that discourages good, hard-working, decent people from running for office."
The allegations come as momentum has been building for the Schwarzenegger camp, with a new poll showing the actor leading the other candidates.
In a show of confidence Wednesday, Schwarzenegger offered a short blueprint for his first 100 days in office, repeating promises to repeal the tripling of the state car tax, have the state budget audited and call a special legislative session to deal with spending cuts.
"We are ready to take office," he told a crowd of about 400 supporters. "We are ready to take action. We are ready to return California to the people."
Gov. Gray Davis (news - web sites)' campaign spokesman, Peter Ragone, countered that it was a mistake for Schwarzenegger to "start measuring the drapes in the offices of the Capitol."
Davis appeared Wednesday with retired Gen. Wesley Clark (news - web sites), a presidential candidate and the latest high-profile Democrat to visit California in support of the governor.
He later appeared with his newest convert, independent Arianna Huffington, who dropped out of the race Tuesday and promised to work with Davis to defeat the recall and keep Schwarzenegger out of office.
At the event with Clark outside a firehouse museum, Davis used his most direct language yet to cast the recall as a choice between himself and Schwarzenegger.
"We have to speak to independents and Democrats in blunt terms," he said. "They have one choice. Unite to defeat this recall and stop Mr. Schwarzenegger or face the prospect that Mr. Schwarzenegger will be governor."
Schwarzenegger was set to embark Thursday on a four-day bus tour heavily advertising the candidate's Hollywood ties. Schwarzenegger will be riding on a bus nicknamed Running Man, the campaign staff on Total Recall.
Walsh said Schwarzenegger would not comment on the sexual misconduct allegations in the Times. Contacted late Wednesday by The Associated Press, Schwarzenegger spokesman Todd Harris said: "We stand by our comments which were published in the story." He declined further comment.
The Times said it interviewed the women over the last seven weeks during an investigation into whether Schwarzenegger harassed women. The Times said none of the women approached the newspaper on her own, none was identified by Schwarzenegger's rivals in the recall race, and none had filed legal action against the actor.
Two of the women allowed their names to be used; four spoke on condition of anonymity.
E. Laine Stockton told the Times she was groped by Schwarzenegger in 1975 at Gold's Gym in Venice. Stockton claimed the bodybuilder came up from behind her, reached under her T-shirt to grab her breast and then walked away. She was 19 at the time.
"I was just shocked, shocked to the point where I almost didn't know how to react, because it was so out of the blue and so unexpected," she told the newspaper.
Anna Richardson, a British television host, said Schwarzenegger touched her breast when she was interviewing him in 2000 on a promotional tour for "The Sixth Day." Richardson, who previously told Premiere magazine about the alleged incident, was accused by a Hollywood publicist then working with Schwarzenegger of fabricating the story.
Others interviewed included two crew members working in 1990 on "Terminator 2: Judgment Day." One woman, now 41, said Schwarzenegger groped her at least three times in an elevator at the hotel where the cast and crew were staying.
The other woman, now in her 30s, said Schwarzenegger pulled her into his lap and whispered vulgarities while other men watched.
Three of the women who spoke on condition of anonymity said being named could jeopardize their careers; the fourth feared public ridicule or harm to her husband's business.
Schwarzenegger's alleged past indiscretions have been an issue in the campaign since he announced his bid for governor. Much of the controversy has surrounded a 1977 interview in Oui magazine in which Schwarzenegger talked about engaging in group sex. The actor has said he doesn't remember it.
On Tuesday, a new Los Angeles Times poll showed Schwarzenegger had support from 40 percent of likely voters in the recall election. Democrat Lt. Gov. Bustamante had 32 percent, and Republican state Sen. Tom McClintock had 15 percent.
The poll also showed the effort to oust Davis succeeding, 56 percent to 42 percent. That marked a shift from a Sept. 12 Times poll that found 50 percent in favor of recalling Davis and 47 percent opposed. The latest poll surveyed 815 likely voters Sept. 25-29 and had a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.
The earlier poll had found Bustamante leading with 30 percent to Schwarzenegger's 25 percent. McClintock had 18 percent.
McClintock, who has promised to remain in the race despite urging from some Republicans to drop out, said he would support Schwarzenegger's efforts in Sacramento if the actor won the election.
"I actually personally like the guy," McClintock said in Thursday's Los Angeles Times. "But I am very skeptical of the team he has surrounded himself with."
Can we say 'desperate smeer tactics?'
I mean, realistically, if he did do this to these women in the past, wouldn't they have spoken up about this by now?
