Mobilizing the Machine
When Creative Artists Agency snagged Arnold Schwarzenegger as a client last August, his representatives thought they were supposed to find the star new roles to reignite his movie career.
But he's turning the tables: Candidate Schwarzenegger wants to cast his agents against type as aides in his run for the California governor's seat.
The 56-year-old actor has asked CAA to join his political effort, largely by tapping the Beverly Hills-based agency's entertainment relationships to help raise campaign funds and rally voters, Schwarzenegger's campaign confirmed. The request is part of a broader move to line up Schwarzenegger's Hollywood support team of publicists and entertainment business associates -- many of them Democrats -- behind his Republican bid to replace Gov. Gray Davis.
Political observers are questioning whether the unusual mobilization risks a backlash from an electorate still coming to terms with the notion of a superstar candidacy.
"I think it puts his campaign at risk," said Ken Khachigian, a 35-year political strategist who was an aide to both Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan. "He already had the Hollywood cachet all by himself. What you really need to add is political weightiness."
Schwarzenegger's campaign strategists say they are simply capitalizing on offers of help from friends and associates of the actor and his wife, television journalist Maria Shriver.
"Because of Arnold and Maria's circle of friends in the entertainment community, the phones have been ringing off the hook," said Bonnie Reiss, who is helping to organize the Schwarzenegger campaign's Hollywood effort. "We're following up with all of them to help invigorate the electorate."
Contemporary stars are typically surrounded by a sophisticated business apparatus that handles legal disputes, negotiates contracts, manages media contacts and keeps the intrusive public at bay. Schwarzenegger's support structure includes not just CAA -- among Hollywood's most powerful agencies -- but also litigator Martin Singer, entertainment lawyer Jake Bloom and publicist Jill Eisenstadt, who is a partner in the public relations and marketing firm Full Picture.
That team could prove to be a significant advantage, particularly in a short campaign that leaves little time to build a machine. Eisenstadt, the media specialist, has been sitting in on political strategy meetings. CAA, for its part, has instant access to star clients such as Tom Cruise, Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts and others, and also represents corporate giants, including Coca-Cola Co., EBay Inc. and Nextel Communications Inc.
