ARNOLD GROPES AND HEILS HIS WAY OUT OF AN ENDORSEMENT

The Oakland Tribune has retracted its endorsement of Arnold Schwarzenegger in part 2 of the recall election.

GIVEN the accusations of sexual abuse leveled against Arnold Schwarzenegger by six women and his disingenuous admission to such behavior, we strongly reconfirm that our readers vote "no" on the recall, but can no longer recommend they cast their 'if-not-Davis-then' vote for Schwarzenegger.

As stated in our initial recommendation on Sunday, "none of the ... candidates still in the race fit our ideal criteria for governor." Although deeply divided on the second part of the ballot question, the ANG Newspapers editorial board initially recommended voting for Mr. Schwarzenegger because of his perceived leadership ability and blend of moderate social and conservative fiscal stands.

Although allegations of his abusive and disrespectful behavior toward women had surfaced earlier, the latest revelations reported in the Los Angeles Times and Schwarzenegger's convenient, but seemingly insincere admission that "I have behaved badly sometimes," alienates a significant proportion of the state's population, male and female.

It indicates a pattern of recurring abuse and boorish behavior that in different circumstances could have led to assault charges. By no stretch of the imagination can his groping and grabbing on "rowdy movie sets" be dismissed as an isolated incident.

Mr. Schwarzenegger has displayed a pattern of such behavior spanning three decades. Called a "sexual harasser" by one female and a "predator" by others, we can no longer in good conscience recommend him for governor.

The doubt these incidents raise about Mr. Schwarzenegger's character, in our opinion, lowers public confidence in the actor-turned-politician as a candidate for our state's top elected office and compromises his ability to govern if elected.

It remains to really be seen how much of an effect the multitude of recent Arnold revelations will have on the voting public. Nevertheless, its effect has spilled over into the editorial board of one of our state's more prominent news organizations.

The reason most other major CA newspapers haven't retracted Arnold endorsements is, simply, that they didn't support him in the first place. I really can't believe that the Trib did in the first place. An Oakland paper supporting Arnold? Wow. Think about it: Arnold has acted in movies where he portrayed a member of an intelligence organization not unlike the CIA (True Lies, for example). The CIA was virtually single-handedly responsible for the crack epidemic in America, which has profoundly screwed up . . . Oakland.

Anyway, good for the Trib, and no on recall.