Big news!! Arnold “I-had-to-use-illegal-steroids-to-make-me-the-man-I-am-today” Schwarzenegger called Democrats “Girlie Men”. Oh, what a world. Will he apologize? Will he not? God help us!

Of course that's the best the GOP has to offer. All bluster and no substance. That's exemplified by Arnold because, not only is he an intellectual waste of space, but he is now one of the highest profile Republicans in the land...solely because of his celebrity status.

Indeed, the celebrity-grab seems to be a popular, if not desperate tactic for the GOP in their languishing search for viable candidates.

Let us not forget “Da Coach” (Mike Ditka) who bowed out of the Illinois Senate race last week. What did he have to offer? He coached a FOOTBALL TEAM!!

He was not the first and he most certainly will not be the last. I'm sure the GOP is prying at every one of the post-prime, right-wing celebrities out there.

In fact, the GOP popularity-contest approach has been around for some time. Let's take a look.

Celebrities Turned Republican Politicians:

Alan Autry - Actor who starred in the popular TV series, “In the Heat of the Night”. Was elected mayor of Fresno, California in 2000.

Phineas Taylor (P.T.) Barnum - Circus impresario. Barnum was mayor of Bridgeport, Connecticut, and served three terms as a Connecticut state legislator.

Shirley Temple Black - Arguably the most famous child star ever, Temple Black unsuccessfully ran as a Republican candidate for the U.S. Congress. She later served as White House chief of protocol for President Gerald Ford, U.S. ambassador to the Republic of Ghana and U.S. ambassador to Czechoslovakia.

Sonny Bono - Followed his split from Cher by becoming the mayor of Palm Spings, California from 1988 to 1992. He was then elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1994 and served until his death in 1998.

Jim Bunning - First elected to the U.S. Senate from Kentucky in 1998. He is a Hall-of-Famer who pitched primarily for the Detroit Tigers and Philadelphia Phillies.

Pete Coors - Currently running for the Republican slot in the 2004 U.S. Senate race in Colorado. If you've ever had a beer, you are familiar with this famous corporate name.

Fred Grandy - Served as an Iowa Congressman from 1987 to 1995. Gandy played Gopher on the 70's TV sitcom, The Love Boat.

Jack Kemp - Was a congressional representative from New York and later Bob Dole's running-mate in the 1996 presidential elections. Kemp was a celebrated quarterback for the Buffalo Bills and NFL player of the year in 1965.

Steve Largent - A former Oklahoma congressman who lost the 2002 gubernatorial race to Democrat Brad Henry. Largent was elected to the House after his Hall of Fame career in the National Football League with the Seattle Seahawks.

George Murphy - An actor, dancer and former president of the Screen Actors Guild who served as a U.S. Senator from California from 1965 to 1971.

Tom Osborne - A congressman from the 3rd District of Nebraska. Former head coach for the University of Nebraska Cornhuskers... If you don't think he was a celebrity in his district, if not the entire state, then you don't know didly about Cornhusker football.

Ronald Reagan - The former governor of California and two-term president of the United States. Reagan starred in more than 50 films before becoming governor of California in 1967.

Jim Ryun - Thirty years ago, Jim Ryun was the fastest miler in the world for his age. He took the world 1,500-meter record from Herb Elliott. Today, Ryun is a Kansas Republican congressman, as he has been since 1996.

Arnold Schwarzenegger - The action star defeated the unpopular recall target, Grey Davis in the 2004 special election for California governor.

Fred Thompson - Was elected to the U.S. Senate from Tennessee in 1994 following an acting career that included roles in films such as "In the Line of Fire" and "The Hunt for Red October". Thompson, a Watergate lawyer, acted in several films and television programs before his election to the U.S. Senate in 1994. He was re-elected in 1996, but did not run in 2002.

J.C. Watts - First elected to Oklahoma's 4th Congressional District in 1994. He quarterbacked the University of Oklahoma to national championships in the 1980s and played professionally in the Canadian leagues.

Celebrities Turned Democratic Politicians:

Bill Bradley - Played 10 years with the New York Knicks. Bradley spent three terms as a Democratic senator from New Jersey. He briefly ran against Al Gore for the 2000 Democratic presidential nomination.

Nancy Culp - U.S. Representative from Pennsylvania. Was best known as Miss Hathaway from “The Beverly Hillbillies”.

John Glenn - Fighter-plane ace and then the nation's first space hero, became a senator and ran for the presidential nomination. The first American to orbit the Earth, Glenn was a Democratic senator from 1974 to 1997. In 1984, he unsuccessfully ran for the Democratic presidential nomination.

Ben Jones - An actor best known as Cooter Davenport from “The Dukes of Hazzard”. Jones was a congressman from Georgia from 1989-1993 before losing to Newt Gingrich.

Sheila Kuehl - A California state senator who many years previously had been a child actor on “The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis”

Tom McMillan - Was an NBA player who became a Democratic congressman from Maryland.

Ralph Waite - U.S. Representative from California. Was best known as the father from the TV show, “The Waltons”.

Other Party Affiliations:

Clint Eastwood - Libertarian - Served two years as mayor of Carmel, California in the 1980s. Starred in such movie classics as “Dirty Harry”, “A Fistful of Dollars”, and “The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly”.

Jesse (The Body) Ventura - Reform - A former pro wrestler who served a single term as the governor of Minnesota.

No candidate can succeed in American elections without prior 'name recognition' among the voters, and people who are already stars don't have to squander their campaign funds in order to win it. So...

Send in the clowns.

Reference :: Schwarzenegger, Arnold :: Tactics | Link