And the hilarity continues with Gov Schwarzenegger's campaign tour pushing his special election & 4 referendums, and it's honestly been one of the most surreal & hysterical of tours perhaps ever mounted

We've learned about Count Cartaxula, and the Governor's BRILLIANT strategy of DELIBERATELY getting caught in a traffic-snarl on the way to a campaign stop atop the roof of a praking garage overlooking the port of Long Beach

As always, bypass registration with www.bugmenot.com

Tonight, we focus on a less than winning debate strategy, and, finally, the lucky voters of Los Angeles get to yell at Gov Schwarzenegger during a campaign stop

First, Gov Arnold points out why he doesn't sell himself short, no matter what those pesky special-interest polls say Goddamnit!!!

Schwarzenegger told reporters that he could have put "15 more ideas" on the ballot. As it was, the governor said, he was criticized for taking on too much. Schwarzenegger suggested that he won't be satisfied even if his agenda was approved and that Californians can expect more far-reaching measures from him.

Now, bonus gold stars for figuring out the jeopardy style punchline here, form of a question please.

"Never look at it as: This is all we need," the governor said, sitting in a big chair at the back of the bus, which was decorated with campaign posters.

What is "Why does he have campaign posters up in his bus, don't he & his staff know what he looks like already?"

Okay, it's official, Arnold's clearly obsessed with the biggest threat to this country & it's well being, Teachers Unions of course, with Cartaxulas a close 2nd no doubt

He added: "How do we get the power away from the teachers union and make sound decisions based on what's best for education, rather than what's best for the teachers union?"

I'll bet he's muttering under his breath at this point, regardless of all others in his immediate vicinity

Now, there's a reason in debates you face your opponent, and that rationale was helpfully provided by Gov Gropenator

After the bus tour, Schwarzenegger flew to Sacramento to be interviewed on two conservative talk radio programs and to participate in a televised forum sponsored by a local TV station......Speakers for the union-backed opposition included.....Brian Rice, a Sacramento firefighter and union leader who has appeared in an opposition ad

And then, the DEVASTATING kick to the Gov's political balls due to not being man enough to debate his ideas with his political opponents-OUCH!!!

Schwarzenegger took the stage first, fielding questions from the audience, then left the station. When it was the opposition's turn, Rice revealed where the governor had gone......He held up for the TV cameras an invitation to a Schwarzenegger fundraising event in Sacramento scheduled for Wednesday night. Schwarzenegger has raised more than $70 million for various political causes in the last several years. He does not typically publicize his fund-raising dinners, nor does he release copies of the invitations......"I wish the governor was here," Rice said. " … He's not on stage with us. Because he … is attending a $50,000-per-plate fundraiser in the Arden Hills Country Club right now …. You want to talk about reform? I think reform is necessary all over. It's not just necessary on one side."

BURN!!!!

And the only lameass reply the Governor's staff could offer in Arnold's defense was

Schwarzenegger's campaign team did not dispute that the governor had left the forum for a fundraiser. His lead strategist, Mike Murphy, told reporters: "We make no apologies for raising money. We're being outspent 3 to 1."

Awww, what a shame a multimultimillionaire can't bankroll his own initiatives, so sad

And speaking of selling points, the biggest one sure to draw the most people to any event Arnold's at, it's time to Yell At The Governor

First, the bad news

With just five days left to sway voters before the special election, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger faced a skeptical audience Thursday night that turned a televised question-and-answer session into an extended advertisement against his ballot initiatives.

Bravo Governor, shrewd political play, plenty of bad press your political opposition gets at your expense, and even worse than that, it's FREE

Then the worse news

The event was Schwarzenegger's first unscripted event of the campaign in California's largest media market. He has rejected all invitations to debate, but has agreed to take questions from voters at forums around the state, provided that his opponents appear separately. Although the station hired an outside consultant to provide a demographically and politically balanced audience, most of the questioners seemed to lean against the governor.

And from earlier in the article

Appearing live on a KNBC-TV Channel 4 forum at the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles, the Republican governor was peppered with hostile questions from a crowd of about 75 voters screened by the station.

Let's Yell At The Governor

One told Schwarzenegger that his proposal to change the law on union campaign donations was fraudulent. Another got into a shouting match with the governor over his proposal to scale back teacher tenure.

Remember them, the group Arnold's obsessed with & muttering about publicly?

Guess what Governor?

Teachers & their families vote too, Jesus, why don't you just mug little old ladies waiting for the "walk" signal at a deserted intersection, you can't get much worse of a PR disaster than what Arnold's leading his forces towards

One voter, whose wife and son are teachers, said he was "absolutely appalled" by Proposition 74, the governor's proposal to extend the probationary period for public school instructors from two years to five.

"It's almost impossible, almost impossible to fire a teacher," Schwarzenegger said.

"No, you're wrong," the man interrupted.

Schwarzenegger asked for a chance to finish.

"No, I'm not going to let you finish, because you're wrong," the man argued.

The governor, who rocked gently back and forth on his heels during the exchange, made light of the confrontation, saying: "I like when you're passionate."

Anyone else find that last sentence smarmy AND creepy, and why didn't he just go to the old canard of "I love teachers, I've played them in movies before"?

The public wasn't yet done yelling at the Gov, and one voter compared Schwarzenegger to another currently disgraced political operative

In the KNBC forum, Schwarzenegger pressed his effort to regain the bipartisan support he has lost over the last year as his political base shrunk to a core of Republicans and conservatives. But the many Democrats in the crowd made that difficult.

One of them, a Camarillo man who works in the healthcare industry, invoked White House political guru Karl Rove as he questioned Schwarzenegger about Proposition 75, which would require unions to get consent from members each year before spending their dues on political campaigns.

"When you have this deceptive language, this Rovian spin that you Republicans like to use to kind of package things and sugarcoat them and say 'this is paycheck protection' — that's fraudulent," he said.

Schwarzenegger replied that it "has nothing to do with right wing versus left wing" but was an attempt to protect working people from "union bosses."

First it was teachers unions, now the enemy is "union bosses", sheesh, make up your mind already, and when you do, don't drag your wife into the fray with a seriously tasteless remark

"It has nothing to do with Republicans versus Democrats," he said, arguing that he was "not trying to silence anyone…. We want to reform the system that is good for everybody in California because I am the people's governor.....When one voter was introduced as a Republican, he joked: "I have nothing against Democrats. I sleep with one every night."

Now, Arnold's feeling somewhat of two minds lately, almost manic, then extremely self-pitying, as we see first HERE

He renewed his vow not to raise taxes and took credit for what he portrayed as a dramatic recovery from the fiscal mess he faced when he took office after the recall election two years ago: "I inherited a state that was physically dead."

And then, the whiney, selfish tone that ends with Arnold saying something that makes you smack your forehead and give a big D'OH!!!

Schwarzenegger cast himself as "David" in the special election, fighting "Goliath," because he is being outspent by union rivals and many public opinion surveys show that his initiatives face unpromising prospects Tuesday......"I'm the underdog in this," he said. "And that's why I said in the beginning that this is David vs. Goliath. It's a wild position to be in. In the movie business, it was always the other way around."

Please, for the love of God Arnold, please say you're not really surprised when real-life doesn'tt follow along the lines of a script

And while you're at it, make sure you keep doing great bits like Count Cartaxula & getting deliberately stuck in traffic to prove your solidarity with the people stuck right behind you, as that's the best way to show how on their side you really are