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premiere of Arnold Schwarzenegger, the political candidate,
had a suitably showbusiness air about
it. Fans screamed and cameramen jostled
for pictures as the bodybuilder-turned movie star arrived at the
county registrar's office to present his papers. Outside, he was
once again long on generalities,
but short on specifics. When a reporter
asked how he would solve California's thirty-eight billion dollar
deficit, he said the important thing was to know there was a crisis.
But the spectre of a Schwarzenegger
political juggernaut was apparently
too much for fellow Republican Darrell Issa, the man who bankrolled
the signature-gathering effort which forced this special election.
He tearfully withdrew from the
race to oust the existing governor
Gray Davis.
More than two hundred and fifty people have shown interest in
the governor's job. They include a pornographer, a seventies movie
star and a water-melon smashing comedian. But given his sheer
name recognition, many believe Arnold Schwarzenegger may soon
be trading the red carpet for the
governor's mansion, and with so many names on the ballot, it's
possible he could do it by winning as little as fifteen percent
of the vote.
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premiere: the first public performance
of a new play or film, used here to refer to the first time the
actor has appeared in public as a political candidate.
a suitably showbusiness air: the
kind of media attention and excitement you would expect from the
public appearance of a famous film star
jostled: pushing against each other
in a crowd
long on generalities, but short on specifics:
able to say much about general issues but very little about the
details
spectre: the frightening image
or idea
political juggernaut: A juggernaut
is a very large lorry. Here it is used in a disapproving way to
refer to a large, extremely powerful organisation
bankrolled: financed
tearfully: sadly - with tears in
his eyes
oust: remove from power
the red carpet: the fame of being an award winning actor.
The red carpet refers to the carpet rolled out for celebrities
to walk down at award ceremonies
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