Put Past to Rest, Hatch Says of Arnold [View All]

WASHINGTON -- Sen. Orrin Hatch says Arnold Schwarzenegger should not be judged on past improper advances towards women but as the devoted husband he is today, adding that the foreign-born GOP candidate for California governor also should have the opportunity to run for president under a constitutional amendment Hatch is pushing.

"We have to look at people who they are today, not what they may have done wrong in the past," Hatch told the National Press Club Friday. "There isn't a person in this room or anywhere else in the world who is perfect, who has lived perfectly."

The movie-star body builder stumped for Hatch's 1994 re-election campaign when he joined the Utah Republican at an awards ceremony at a Salt Lake City fitness equipment factory and taunted "hasta la vista, baby" to Hatch's Democratic challenger, Pat Shea. Shea said Schwarzenegger's appearance was offensive because of his movies' "terrible treatment of women" and found it "ironic that Hatch, who promotes himself as a true feminist, would bring one of the leading media promoters of misogyny to Utah."

(snip)

Hatch has introduced a resolution to amend the Constitution's ban on non-American-born presidents by allowing people who have been U.S. citizens for at least 20 years to be elected to the White House. While the measure was not introduced with Schwarzenegger in mind, Hatch said the Austrian-born superstar would be a perfect example of why the constitutional amendment is needed.

more…
http://www.sltrib.com/2003/Oct/10042003/utah/98550.asp