United They Sit

As for California, in the 2002 midterm election and again in the weeks leading up to the recall petitioning, pundits were poised for a “Terminator Meets Meathead” battle that never materialized. Rob Reiner, too, had entered the statewide political fray by spearheading a proposition, the Early Childhood Development Tobacco Surtax Tax, which passed by a knife’s edge in 1998. But unlike Arnold, Hollywood Democrats such as Reiner were hindered from running because of the pretense of anti-recall party unity.

Insists Reiner’s political consultant, Chad Griffin: “Rob made it clear he considered the recall to be an abuse of the electoral system. He opposed the drastic cuts in children’s health care, domestic-violence centers and education that a right-wing Republican would force on the voters and cost them $60 million.”

As for Reiner’s political future, Griffin says, “Rob has been very consistent. His goal is making Prop. 10 a success and directing films. He’s not ruled out any run.”

Farrell, in retrospect, would have been a worthy opponent for Schwarzenegger. Born in Minnesota and the son of a carpenter, Farrell even did a hitch with the Marines. He is president of Family Motion Pictures, whose purpose is “to make movies that encourage adults to bring their children with them to the theater.” Like Reagan before him, he’s a leader of the Screen Actors Guild. He serves on California’s Commission on Judicial Performance and lectures against capital punishment. He led this year’s anti-war activism among artists. He’s married to America’s onetime TV sweetheart Shelley Fabares. And, in the cartoon series, he provided the voice of Superman’s father.

“Everyone’s been asking Mike to run for years. He’d be just incredible. But he doesn’t want to do it,” notes Tabankin, his longtime pal. “It doesn’t surprise me people like Mike don’t want to run for political office. What does surprise me is that Democrats have so little appreciation for those in the artistic world.”

Music mogul Danny Goldberg blames Democratic Party snobbishness.

“Republican political advisers have obviously been nurturing Schwarzenegger for years,” he maintains. “Farrell, Dreyfuss, there are hundreds of Democrats who are actors or performers who would have fit the bill. But there’s a cultural resistance on the Democratic side to acknowledge what people like to bring to the table. People have to be encouraged and groomed to run. It’s a very subtle process.”

Obviously, too subtle for us mere mortals in the land of the brave.