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| Austria cheers on its favourite son in the race for California
VIENNA, Aug 17 (AFP) - A little less than a century after Austria lost an empire, the nation has united behind Arnold Schwarzenegger's ambitions to become the next governor of California. The local press has welcomed his decision to stand under headlines like "King Arnold", "Arnie, the future emperor of California" and, more modestly, "Schwarzenegger follows in Reagan's footsteps." BizVantage – Serious & personalized business, investment and technology intelligence for a serious advantage. Their reports never cease to recall the actor's Austrian roots. Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger was born in the eastern province of Styria in July 1947 and wasted little time on the road to fame. He was crowned Mr Universe in 1967 and left Austria for the United States a year later to try his hand at acting. In 1983, he became a naturalised American citizen. "He could have been no older than 12 when he started lifting weights to build up his biceps," remembers Gernot Schoettl, the owner of the Stadtbeisl restaurant in Schwarzenegger's native village of Thal bei Graz. "He was so obsessed that his father Gustav, who was the local police chief, forbid him to go to the gym more than three times a week," Schoettl added. "Do I think he is going to win? Of course he is going to win. He is Austrian, isn't he?" Even Joerg Haider, the notorious strongman of Austria's far right who is no friend of the European Union or of the Republican administration in Washington, approves of Schwarzenegger's quest to oust unpopular Democratic Governor Gray Davis on October 7. "I find it very interesting that an Austrian can influence American politics," he told the weekly magazine News. Elfriede Jelinek, a Viennese playwright known for her deeply disturbing physological dramas, has described the star of the "Terminator" trilogy as "the best possible candidate for the job of governor of California." "Schwarzenegger, has strength, beauty, intelligence and fame," she gushed. Other notable figures and Austrians abroad have joined in the chorus. The governor of Styria, Waltraud Klasnic, has assured Schwarzenegger that "the province of his birth is behind him all the way." "We are proud of Arnold's candidacy, we rejoice," Klasnic said from the city of Graz where Schwarzenegger is an honorary citizen and the local football stadium carries his name. "An Austrian immigrant is probably going to govern the richest and most populous state of the United States," lawmaker Peter Pilz enthused, while former Austrian deputy chancellor Susanne Riess-Passer said she was convinced that "Arnie has a great chance of winning because he is so charismatic." The Austrian consul general in Los Angeles, Peter Launsky-Tieffenthal, told the Austrian news agency APA that the action hero's decision to run for governor "constitutes an unprecendented public relations opportunity for Austria." "Arnold is going to win. He could not be worse than Gray Davis," Klaus Heidegger, a former Austrian ski champion who lives in the United States, predicted confidently. Political analyst Peter Filzmaier said he believed Schwarzenegger stood a good chance indeed, thanks to the success of his latest movie, Terminator 3, and the brevity of the election campaign. He added that if he were to win, it could help US President George W. Bush in his quest for a second term. "If Bush wants to be reelected, it will be very important for him if a Republican manages to win a state that is traditionally a Democratic stronghold." Schwarzenegger, however, does not always seem to return the child-like affection of the Austrian public. When an American supporter recently confided to him that he too was of Austrian descent, the actor wryly replied: "Nobody's perfect." rok/gk US-politics-Austria-Schwarzenegger
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