Schwarzenegger encounters varied Palo Altan welcome at Stanford

posted March 15, 2004

by Jimmy Chen and Kristen Barta of The Paly Voice

newsphotos.stanford.edu

Governor Schwarzenegger waves to the audience of Stanford students at yesterday's taping of Hardball

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger received a mixed welcome at yesterday afternoon's taping of MSNBC's talk-show Hardball at Stanford University's Memorial theatre. A crowd of students, faculty, and local activists gathered around the theatre's entrance expressing support, condemnation, or ambivalence.

The crowd featured a broad gamut of political views from the radical to the reactionary. As such, many spectators expected to see an enraged debate. Stanford student Jeremy Kimmel said, "I knew [the Governor] was coming, but we just came here to watch people yell at each other." According to another Stanford student, Robbie Kittleson, the Stanford Student body isn't very politically active. "It's good [that the governor came]: there are no real student protestors here: it's not a real active campus," Kittleson said.

However, Stanford Law student and avid Republican Glen Huitt disagrees, "It's great to see more of the right on campus." Huitt describes his political views as, "Republican with liberal social concepts, but fiscally conservative." He is also affiliated with the Republican Youth Majority (www.rym.org) a group of pro-Arnold, pro-choice, and pro-environment Republican youths.

Another local couple from Menlo Park echoed Huitt's convictions, "[We] came because we care about our future: [We] want to support a perspective that's not shared here."

Liberal perspectives were also represented through numerous demonstrators, including labor unions, and a group called the "Raging Grannies."

During the show Governor Schwarzenegger commented and clarified his views on many controversial topics. With respect to gay marriage Schwarzenegger said that despite his personal beliefs, he will side with the people's decision, "I go with what the people have voted [for] whatever that decision is, we'll go with it."

In response to Matthews' question regarding the governor's recent opposition to raising minimum wage the governor contended that he would like to see all Californians make $100/hour but the overall strength of the economy must be considered.

When asked what it's like to be a politician Schwarzenegger responded by saying that he isn't one – a point he reiterated several times throughout the show. Additionally, Schwarzenegger stressed bipartisan actions and his role in "fixing a broken system."

According to msnbc.com, Hardball was created to expose college students to America's political system through a series of interviews with prominent political figures. The show airs on Mondays at 7 p.m. eastern time.

The following reporters contributed to this story: Elena Marinelli and Eric Meltzer