In a statement Wednesday morning, prospective Schwarzenegger campaign manager George Gorton said the former bodybuilder from Austria was leaning toward staying out of the election.
Most major media outlets had been reporting for at least a week that Schwarzenegger probably would decide against entering the race and that Riordan might then decide to run. Schwarzenegger did little, if anything, to rebut those reports.
Riordan, meanwhile, had all the markings of a man about to reenter the fray after losing in the Republican primary last year to businessman Bill Simon Jr., another friend and neighbor of the former mayor.
"A few days ago I talked to Riordan, and it was all about his running for governor. He seemed upbeat," said a Riordan friend who spoke on condition of anonymity. "Arnold getting into the race did not even seem part of the equation.
"There are a number of private polls going around, and none of them are remotely positive for the governor," said the friend, who speculated that the poll numbers made the race too enticing for Schwarzenegger to turn down.
Bryce Nelson, a journalism professor at the USC Annenberg School for Communication, said he expected Schwarzenegger's television surprise to be just the first of many attempts to stay in control of his message.
"It provides much more drama if you keep everybody guessing," Nelson said. "I would not put anything past the great manipulator and Terminator, Arnold Schwarzenegger."
In the opening moments of his candidacy Wednesday, Schwarzenegger was content to straddle the line between movie star and candidate. He cited at least three payoff lines from the film world, including "Hasta la vista, baby," before ending the news conference with his signature "I'll be back!"
Said Nelson: "It's all show business, man. It's L.A."
