http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/news/7035779.htm

Schwarzenegger asks no favors
HE FOCUSES ON FORGING LINK WITH BUSH
By Laura Kurtzman
Mercury News

SAN BERNARDINO - After winning the governor's office, Arnold Schwarzenegger vowed to ask President Bush for ``a lot, a lot of favors,'' but at their first official meeting Thursday morning the governor-elect said he made no demands.

Schwarzenegger said he used a private half-hour meeting with the president at Riverside's Mission Inn to make a personal connection with Bush, whom he had met before but did not know well.

``I did not go and present the president with any kind of a detailed kind of request, a laundry list of things,'' Schwarzenegger said after the meeting. ``I thought that the first meeting ought to be just about getting to know one another and building a relationship of mutual trust.''

Although there was little news in his remarks, parts of Schwarzenegger's 15-minute press conference were carried live on national television, a measure of both the fascination with his election and the symbolic importance of his meeting with Bush. The two Republicans have a big stake in maintaining good relations.

Each has something to offer the other politically, but they also present one another with potentially serious liabilities.

Schwarzenegger's fame could help Republicans rally moderate voters, possibly delivering California to Bush in next year's presidential election.

Could be liability

But if the new governor is forced to raise taxes, or if his time in office is clouded with questions about his treatment of women, Schwarzenegger could just as easily pose a problem for Bush, who is indebted to conservatives likely to find both issues troubling. Schwarzenegger also has more liberal views on abortion, gay rights and other social issues than Bush.

For Schwarzenegger, having a Republican president in his corner could prove an invaluable asset. But if the economy continues to suffer and the situation in Iraq does not improve, Bush could become so unpopular in California that Schwarzenegger might be better off keeping his distance.

``There's a scenario in which they won't touch each other with a 10-foot pole, and there's a scenario in which they waltz off into the sunset and realign the Republican Party,'' said Bruce Cain, a political scientist at the University of California-Berkeley. ``Of the two, I would bet that they don't touch each other with a 10-foot pole.''

Former California Assembly Speaker Robert Hertzberg, a Democrat who is on Schwarzenegger's transition team, said he was unsure if the actor's victory would help Bush in California.

``There's some positives, but risks,'' Hertzberg said at a briefing on the recall that he and former Gov. Pete Wilson, another transition member, held for lobbyists in Washington.

For now, Schwarzenegger clearly hopes the relationship will last. Facing what could be a $20 billion budget deficit, he has said he will seek more federal aid for the costs of illegal immigration to the state.

The deficit would swell an additional $4.2 billion if Schwarzenegger keeps his pledge to cut the car tax by two-thirds. The money goes to cities and counties, and Schwarzenegger promised Thursday that he would continue to pay them after the tax is cut.

Asked how he could succeed at winning new federal funds when governors before him such as Gray Davis had failed, Schwarzenegger demurred.

``I cannot talk about what the past administration has done, because I really don't know exactly how he has approached the White House and what relationship he had,'' Schwarzenegger said. ``I just can tell you that I will make sure that we will from now on have a good relationship with the White House, a good relationship with the federal government.''

In Washington, Wilson recalled the difficulties he faced trying to secure federal money for the state when he was a U.S. senator from 1983 to 1991. There, he faced the so-called ``ABC mentality'' of many members of Congress when distributing funds: Anyplace But California.

``There is enormous, frankly, enmity,'' Wilson said.

White House press secretary Scott McClellan said Bush and Schwarzenegger met for 15 minutes alone and for another 15 minutes with aides present, then rode together in the motorcade to San Bernardino, where Bush gave a speech on Iraq and the economy.

During their private meeting, the two men spoke about the economy, education and job creation, according to Schwarzenegger, but not about specific proposals for helping California.

``It's not the right time,'' Schwarzenegger said.

Common ground

Schwarzenegger said he met the president in the early 1990s, when Bush's father, George H.W. Bush, appointed him head of the President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports.

In San Bernardino, Bush said he had been reflecting on what he had in common with Schwarzenegger.

``We both married well,'' Bush said. ``Some accuse us of not being able to speak the English language.'' And, ``We both have big biceps.'' The audience began to laugh. ``Well,'' the president said, ``two out of three ain't bad.''