Both Sides Reading That Oui Interview

Seizing on a 1977 magazine interview, Democrats stepped up their personal attacks Friday on Arnold Schwarzenegger, while Republicans sought to assess the political fallout from the actor’s sexually graphic comments and descriptions of personal drug use.

Art Torres, chairman of the state Democratic Party, was asked during an interview on KNX-AM (1070) in Los Angeles whether Democratic operatives had dredged up the comments Schwarzenegger made in an article published in Oui magazine.

“Absolutely not,” said Torres, who proceeded to exploit the opportunity to criticize Schwarzenegger. “It’s been well documented that this man is a sexual predator,” he said, citing media reports of alleged untoward behavior with women, as well as the comments the actor made to Oui magazine regarding a group sexual encounter at a Venice gym.

In a follow-up interview with The Times, Torres said Schwarzenegger was “at the very least a misogynist.... I think women have to ask themselves, is this the kind of governor they want?”

Schwarzenegger’s campaign team swiftly denounced Torres’ remarks.

“Several weeks ago, Democratic Atty. Gen. Bill Lockyer warned against ‘puke politics’ in this campaign,” said Rob Stutzman, a spokesman for Schwarzenegger. “Art Torres has not heeded his own attorney general’s warning and is engaging in the disgusting type of politics that voters have grown weary of during the Davis years.”

The interview in Oui, a now-defunct men’s magazine, has “no relevance in the governor’s race, as far as we’re concerned,” Stutzman said. “The only people who seem interested in talking about it are Internet reporters and Democrat operatives who are desperate to change the topic away from Gray Davis and Cruz Bustamante.”

In the 1977 article, Schwarzenegger speaks about using marijuana and hashish and about his sexual activities. He graphically describes an incident in which he and several other bodybuilders had sex with a woman who, he said, showed up naked at a gym in Venice.

Political analysts were divided Friday over the effects of Schwarzenegger’s comments of 26 years ago. Several minimized the importance, suggesting that those who might be offended probably would not have supported him anyway.

“It hurts him with the Christian right,” said Tony Quinn, a nonpartisan campaign handicapper in Sacramento, “but that’s a very hard vote for him to get under any circumstances.”

Others said it was too soon to tell. “I don’t think people are necessarily surprised,” said Wayne Johnson, chief strategist for Bill Simon Jr.’s just-ended campaign.

“Then again, it wasn’t last year. I don’t know how far you go back,” he said.

Ken May, who headed Simon’s campaign in the Central Valley, said, “I think most people had an idea Arnold had some problems in his youth.”

Many conservatives “are becoming a little more pragmatic in the way they are thinking” and want to back a winner to ensure Davis’ recall and Bustamante’s defeat, he said.

Still others, including some close to Schwarzenegger, said they were concerned that the reports would hurt his efforts to unite Republicans by appealing to conservatives who currently back state Sen. Tom McClintock (R-Thousand Oaks).

Warene Wall, who headed Simon’s volunteer efforts in San Diego and Imperial counties, said at the least the latest revelations would cause conservatives “to perhaps pause a while longer in making their decision” on whom to back.

While criticizing the “Democratic slime machine,” Wall said of Schwarzenegger, “I certainly think he has to be held accountable for his actions.”

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Times staff writer Miguel Bustillo contributed to this report