Beatty gives 'majorette' speech
BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (AP) - Actor-director Warren Beatty says he won't let
"monied, honeyed voices of ridicule and reaction" stop him from considering a
presidential bid. In a speech Wednesday night to Hollywood's liberal elite, Beatty drew
several rounds of applause, but didn't deliver what the crowd came to hear - a yes or no
about his presidential intentions. That will come later in the campaign season. He did
promise to champion the causes of American liberalism whether he runs or not. He
criticized the Democratic Party for looking Republican, and questioned whether Democratic
presidential candidates Al Gore and Bill Bradley are true to the party's tradition.
"Are we coming to the point where the Democratic Party has to have a Republican
president to find its voice again?" Beatty told a celebrity-studded audience of
several hundred people.
Ever the actor, Beatty framed his presidential intentions by giving advice to an
imaginary character - a drum majorette. "If an unexpected person showed they had the
spirit and the ability to lead and said to me, 'Look, there's no liberal running for
president' - and if serious people of good judgment are actually talking to that person
about running - it would make no difference to me whether that person became well known as
a basketball player, a businessman, a wrestler, a grocery store clerk or a drum majorette.
"I'd say, 'Look, drum majorette. There's no harm in thinking about this - however
unlikely it might be. But whatever you do, go ahead and speak up. If you speak up, maybe
you'll influence some people. Maybe you'll influence the candidates that are
running," Beatty said.
Schwarzenegger eyes political bid
LOS ANGELES (AP) - First Warren Beatty, now Arnold Schwarzenegger. As rumors
swirl that the liberal Beatty may run for president, Schwarzenegger - a Republican - says
he has thought "many times" about seeking office. "The possibility is there
because I feel it inside," the Kennedy in-law said in an interview in the November
issue of Talk magazine. "I feel there are a lot of people in politics that are
standing still and not doing enough." One possibility for the "Terminator"
star and husband of Maria Shriver is the California governorship, which is up for grabs in
three years. The presidency is out, though. The Austrian-born Schwarzenegger is a U.S.
citizen, but only natural-born citizens are eligible under the Constitution.
