Governor makes a campaign stop in Simi
By Kyle Jorrey kjorrey@theacorn.com

REAGAN REMEMBERED-Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, Nancy Reagan and Maria Shriver visit a display that includes Reagan election memorabilia at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley. Schwarzenegger delivered a campaign speech at the library on Monday.

With the election just days away, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger took time out of his busy campaign schedule to speak at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library this past Monday-not about his own reelection bid, but about an election held 40 years ago.

In November 1966, another actor-turned-politician, Ronald Reagan, beat the odds and defeated Democratic incumbent Pat Brown to become the 33rd governor of California.

Speaking at an event to commemorate the 40th anniversary of that victory, Schwarzenegger called Reagan "a great idol of mine," a man who "could throw a political punch as well as take one."

"I see (Reagan's life) through the lens of being governor myself," Schwarzenegger said, "and that gives me an even deeper and more personal appreciation of him."

More than 850 people, including several members of the Simi Valley city government, packed the library's Presidential Learning Center to hear Schwarzenegger's 15-minute speech.

Keeping the focus on Reagan and his wife, Nancy (who entered the ceremony arm-in-arm with Schwarzenegger and California's first lady, Maria Shriver), and not on his current campaign, the governor refused to field any questions from the media and never once mentioned the gubernatorial race.

Schwarzenegger and his entourage arrived at the library about 25 minutes after the event's scheduled 11 a.m. start time, leaving the tightly packed audience-whose members paid $75 a ticket and had lunch awaiting them-eager and anxious.

They had to wait even longer as library director Duke Blackwood and former California Gov. Peter Wilson, as well as a short film about the '66 election, preceded Schwarzenegger on the podium, but when the governor got up to speak, his well-known Hollywood charm did not disappoint the mostly Republican crowd.

Schwarzenegger began his speech by reading from Lou Cannon's 2003 book, "Governor Reagan: His Rise to Power," a section about Reagan's efforts to pass Proposition 1, a complicated initiative to limit taxes.

"Let me quote from the book, and I love this: 'Never before had a governor sponsored a ballot initiative and called a special statewide election to decide it. And never again, after this fiasco of Prop. 1, would a California governor be similarly tempted," said Schwarzenegger, who held a similar campaign in 2005.

"Well, Lou, I think you need to update this book," he said, chuckling. "I wish I would have read that earlier. So, Governor Reagan lost one initiative and I lost all three, but I feel much better just knowing I'm in such good company."

Throughout his speech, Schwarzenegger praised Reagan for his understanding of the importance of bipartisanship and for his unrelenting optimism when it came to the future of California and the nation.

The governor, whose campaign has painted him as a moderate who can unite both Republican and Democrat, said Reagan "believed that you could disagree without being disagreeable."

"Ronald Reagan believed that when you disrespect your adversary, you disrespect the foundation of the democratic system and thus the people themselves," Schwarzenegger said. "And this is a lesson of course that I had to learn."

In saying so, the governor harkened back to the controversy over his "girlie men" comments during the recall campaign.

"Ladies and gentlemen, in the heat of political battle, you say things that you wish you hadn't said. And you girlie men out there know exactly what I'm talking about," said the governor, evoking applause and laughter from the audience, which included billionaire oil tycoon T. Boone Pickens, Merv Griffin and a long list of Republican politicians.

Because Reagan moved to California from "the Plains of Illinois," Schwarzenegger said that he too was an emigrant, a fact he said contributed to the former president's "deep affection" for the Golden State.

"(He) felt the specialness of California and wanted to preserve it to keep it alive for future generations. He felt that anything was possible here," Schwarzenegger said. "We immigrants have that belief in California. His belief in California is a lesson we should never ever forget."

Schwarzenegger closed his speech with a direct statement to the former first lady.

"Mrs. Reagan, I want to say something to you. I want you to know that I have studied your husband because I admire the kind of man he was. I admire what he had accomplished. And I admire how he accomplished it. So, I pledge to you that I will try to live up to his example," he said.

After his speech, Schwarzenegger remained on the library grounds so he and Shriver could enjoy a private lunch with Nancy Reagan and former Gov. Wilson and his wife, Dale, said Melissa Gilliam, the Reagan Library's spokesperson.

Following the event the governor got right back on the campaign trail, heading to Encino to help judge a scarecrow contest, according to a Schwarzenegger aide who didn't give his name.