Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger received a mixed welcome at yesterday
afternoon’s taping of MSNBC’s talk-show Hardball at Stanford
University’s
Memorial theatre. A crowd of students, faculty, and local activists
gathered
around the theatre’s entrance expressing support, condemnation, or
ambivalence.

The crowd featured a broad gamut of political views from the radical to
the
reactionary. As such, many spectators expected to see an enraged
debate.
Stanford student Jeremy Kimmel said, “I knew [the Governor] was coming,
but
we just came here to watch people yell at each other.” According to
another
Stanford student, Robbie Kittleson, the Stanford Student body isn’t
very
politically active. “It’s good [that the governor came]… there are no
real
student protestors here… it’s not a real active campus,” Kittleson
said.

However, Stanford Law student and avid Republican Glen Huitt disagrees,
“It’s great to see more of the right on campus.” Huitt describes his
political views as, “Republican with liberal social concepts, but
fiscally
conservative.” He is also affiliated with the Republican Youth Majority
(www.rym.org) a group of pro-Arnold, pro-choice, and pro-environment
Republican youths.

Another local couple from Menlo Park echoed Huitt’s convictions, “[We] came
because we care about our future… [We] want to support a perspective
that’s
not shared here.”

Liberal perspectives were also represented through numerous
demonstrators,
including labor unions, and a group called the “Raging Grannies.”

During the show Governor Schwarzenegger commented and clarified his
views on
many controversial topics. With respect to gay marriage Schwarzenegger
said
that despite his personal beliefs, he will side with the people’s
decision,
“I go with what the people have voted [for] whatever that decision is,
we’ll
go with it.”

In response to Matthews’ question regarding the governor’s recent
opposition
to raising minimum wage the governor contended that he would like to
see all
Californians make $100/hour but the overall strength of the economy
must be
considered.

When asked what it’s like to be a politician Schwarzenegger responded
by
saying that he isn’t one — a point he reiterated several times
throughout
the show. Additionally, Schwarzenegger stressed bipartisan actions and
his
role in “fixing a broken system.”

According to msnbc.com, Hardball was created to expose college students
to
America’s political system through a series of interviews with
prominent
political figures. The show airs on Mondays at 7 p.m. eastern time.

The following reporters contributed to this story: Elena Marinelli and Eric Meltzer