Buchanan and Press, September 3, 2003 (via drudge)

Pat Buchanan: LET ME TAKE ANOTHER PROMINENT CANDIDATE, ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER. HE IS PRO ABORTION HE IS PRO GAY RIGHTS, HE'S GOT A LIFESTYLE WE COULD CALL BODYBUILDIER LIFESTYLE THAT YOU'VE BEEN READING ABOUT PAT ROBERTSON SHOULD CHRISTIANS IN GOOD CONSCICENCE, CAN THEY VOTE FOR ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER?

Pat Robertson: WELL YOU KNOW, I'M A BODY BUILDER. I DO SOME PRETTY HEAVY WEIGHTLIFTING, SO I THINK THE WEIGHTLIFTERS OF THE WORLD NEED TO UNITE. I TELL YOU WHAT THOSE GUYS IN CALIFORNIA COULD USE A BIG BRUISER TO KNOCK SOME HEADS TOGETHER. I MEAN THEY'RE OUT OF CONTROL OVER THERE. SO WHAT ARE THEY GONNA DO? I MEAN YOU GONNA HAVE BUSTAMANTE WHO IS SORT OF THE GOVERNOR GRAY DAVIS LITE? THEY DONT WANT ANYMORE DAVIS, SO WHO ELSE YOU GONNA PUTT IN? I THINK YOU DONT HAVE ANYBODY ELSE THAT'S COMING UP ON THE RADAR SO THE OTHER ALTERNATIVE IS JUST STAY HOME.

Now comes word that Arnold won't participate in the upcoming gubernatorial debates:

Five leading candidates vying to replace California Gov. Gray Davis in the state's recall election will participate in the first official public debate Wednesday. Arnold Schwarzenegger will not participate.

So far, no big deal – frontrunners often skip out on debates. They have much to lose and little to gain. But then there's this:

He has said he will participate in a September 24 debate that will provide questions in advance.

Ah. The gentle way to read this is that Arnold is simply unready for a six-way, unscripted debate. That's understandable, considering he's only been a candidate for a few weeks, but less understandable when he's obviously been considering a run for at least a couple of years now. If you're inclined to be less charitable, you could take this to mean that Arnold wants to gain the advantage of appearing in a debate, but doesn't want the risk of sounding like, well, yet another Hollywood type getting in over his head.