Warren Beatty and Annette Bening Crash Schwarzenegger Shindig

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has been plagued by critics, talk show hosts, columnists, and pundits ever since he took office in California. One of his most outspoken critics in Hollywood circles has been Warren Beatty, with his wife Annette Bening being a close second. Schwarzenegger held a rally recently to drum up last-minute support for a group of statewide ballot measures designed to curb the power of the Democrat-controlled Legislature and the state’s public employee unions. Another measure he backs would extend the trial period for teaches to get tenure. The event was held at an airport hangar, where several hundred of the governor’s supporters had been invited to gather.

When Beatty and Bening heard about the rally they decided that they had to make an appearance, so they strode confidently up to the entrance side by side. A Schwarzenegger aide at the door told the "Ishtar" actor that his name wasn’t on the guest list. Adding insult to injury, Beatty was also told that he didn’t have the appropriate wristband he needed if he wanted to get inside. Mrs. Beatty was incensed. "You have to have a wristband to listen to the governor?" Bening asked. "He represents all of us, right?" The fracas caused by Mr. and Mrs. Beatty resulted in momentary confusion at the entrance to the rally, and the hangar door was literally closed in their faces. Bet that was a first.

A little while later, as Schwarzenegger was already on stage speaking, the hangar door was reopened. The governor told the cheering crowd of his supporters that the four ballot proposals he was supporting would "reform the broken system." Beatty and his wife had earlier boarded a bus draped with a "Truth Squad" banner, urging whoever would listen to them to vote against the ballot measures supported by Schwarzenegger. Many reporters have asked Beatty over the years if he would run for public office in the future, and he has always hemmed and hawed with noncommittal responses. He has been repeatedly mentioned as a possible challenger to Schwarzenegger in next year’s gubernatorial race, but he recently admitted to reporters that he won’t be running. "I don’t want to run for governor," he said. "I want to say what I think."

Mr. and Mrs. Beatty shadowed the governor throughout the day to offer their own opinions in counterpoint. "To me, this is an abuse of the initiative process," Beatty said of the governor’s organized campaigning for the ballot measures. The governor, on the other hand, alluded to Beatty and Bening only directly when speaking to reporters later. "There's the main event, then there is the sideshow," Schwarzenegger said. "I don't care about the sideshow."