LAT Goes From Grope To Hottie

The LATimes, which notoriously broke the "Gropenator" story on the eve of the Davis run-off election, this morning tried a remix, publishing a comment caught on audio tape last spring. As LAT rolls out the story,

On the recording, Schwarzenegger describes Republican legislators as the "wild bunch" and refers to Garcia (right), casually saying that "black blood" mixed with "Latino blood" equals "hot."

"I mean, they are all very hot," the governor says on the audio recording. "They have the, you know, part of the black blood in them and part of the Latino blood in them that together makes it."

Astonishingly stupid, especially since Schwarzenegger knew the session was being recorded. But also astonishingly human and totally Arnold, so why is it a big deal? It's not like he put on a Ku Klux Klan outfit like Robert Byrd used to do.

This afternoon, Garcia said she was completely unbothered by the comment, but Arnold's opponent, the utterly lackluster Phil Angelides, attempted to sieze the moment:

State Treasurer Phil Angelides, who is challenging the governor for re-election this year, issued a statement this morning saying Schwarzenegger "has used language that is deeply offensive to all Californians and embarrassed our state. His comments reflect a disturbing pattern of behavior. The governor has a responsibility to conduct himself with dignity."

All Californians? Embarrassed our state? Whatever.

State Dems, desperate in the face of a potential trouncing, are also piling on, according to SacBee's Daniel Weintraub:

The Democrats are now moving to escalate the reaction to Schwarzenegger's comments. They are rolling out UFW co-founder and civil rights acitvist Dolores Huerta and the National Latino Congress to attack the governor for his "racially charged" comments.

Yeah, but will most black and Puerto Rican women really take offence that Arnold Schwarzenegger thinks they're hot? Good luck.

Back to the nefarious quote. LAT gives these details about the meeting:

The meeting probably took place in the Ronald Reagan Cabinet Room, the governor's de facto office that adjoins his smaller official quarters. The conference room faces east toward lush Capitol Park and has a long conference table that serves as a giant desk. The sword from Schwarzenegger's movie "Conan the Barbarian" rests on a nearby table.

Participants were Kennedy, who was Cabinet secretary under former Gov. Gray Davis; Gary Delsohn, a former Sacramento Bee reporter and author who recently became Schwarzenegger's chief speechwriter; and Walter Von Huene, a former TV director who is a close friend of the governor. Von Huene, a fellow cigar smoker and chess partner of Schwarzenegger, also serves as an informal speech coach.

What isn't mentioned anywhere is how and when the LAT got the audiotape, and why they chose today, a bit less than a month before the election, to run it.

One reason may be this: They got burned on the "Gropenator" eve-of-the-election slam last time, costing them dearly in lost circulation and accusations of failed objectivity. Breaking the story over three weeks before the election would avoid that criticism this time.

There's another possibility: The Dems are really hurting and need more time to make the most of the Gov-gaffe. A day or two wouldn't be enough, but seven weeks ... yeah, we could work with seven weeks.

Oh, and by the way, how come Susan Kennedy doesn't get a word of criticism for this line about Garcia:

"Bonnie Garcia is great. She's a ball-buster. She's great. Is she Puerto Rican?"

As a man, I am deeply offended by "ball-buster." And I'm sure Puerto Rican women are not happy about being called a word that's defined as "a person who is relentlessly aggressive, intimidating, or domineering" -- in other words, a bitch. But nary a peep. Of course, Kennedy's not the governor. And she's not a Republican. And she's not a man.

Related Tags: Politics, Schwarzenegger, Garcia, Hot, Ball-buster