Gov. backs Bush’s plan for Iraq

Bucking the disenchanted views of most Americans about the war, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said Friday that he supports President Bush’s plan to increase the number of troops in Iraq.

“I think we should give it everything,” Schwarzenegger responded when asked in a pre-taped television interview whether he supported Bush’s plan to send an additional 21,000 troops. “We should give it everything in order to be victorious.”

In the interview to be broadcast Sunday on ABC News’ “This Week with George Stephanopoulos,” Schwarzenegger said he does not want the U.S. to “pull out of this war as losers.” That would be “disastrous” for the Middle East, he said, according to portions of the interview distributed by the network Friday.

Schwarzenegger did break with the president by reiterating his support for a timeline for American troops to withdraw so that the Iraqis fully understand that they have “got to be independent,” according to the ABC excerpt.

The comments come as Schwarzenegger has been facing harsh criticism for his plan to place new requirements and fees on employers, hospitals and doctors to pay for a plan that would ensure health coverage for all Californians.

But Schwarzenegger has also drawn a good deal of praise for his new self-definition as a “post-partisan” governor, one who draws on ideas favored by the electorate regardless of where the notions fall in the ideological spectrum.

“I don’t try to please the conservatives; I don’t try to please the liberals,” he said in a part of the interview broadcast by ABC on Friday. “I like to please the people. I’m a public servant. I’m not a politician.”

But the governor’s position on the war is not in line with the majority of the electorate’s views. A USA Today/Gallup poll conducted last week found that 12% of those surveyed supported sending more troops and that 85% favored withdrawing.

Of those supporting withdrawal, 15% wanted to do so immediately, 39% favored it over the next 12 months and 31% thought it should be done over as many years as needed.

“This will be a blow to anyone who has hopes that Schwarzenegger is in the center,” said Bob Mulholland, who was a senior advisor to Phil Angelides, Schwarzenegger’s Democratic challenger in last year’s election.

During the campaign, Angelides tried unsuccessfully to use Californians’ antipathy toward Bush against Schwarzenegger because of the Republican governor’s support for the president.

Dan Schnur, a GOP consultant, disagreed with Mulholland. “This is what being a post-partisan governor looks like,” Schnur said. “He leans left on some things and right on others. For every universal healthcare plan, there’s a troop surge. It all balances out in the center.”

Dave Gilliard, a Republican consultant who has clashed on occasion with the administration, said he did not think Schwarzenegger made the comments for political purposes.

“I’m not Schwarzenegger’s biggest fan, but in this case I don’t think there’s politics involved,” he said. “It’s probably a heartfelt position -- not a particularly popular one, even with Republicans.”

Schwarzenegger, who had campaigned for Bush in 2004, named two Republicans he might support in 2008: former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and Sen. John McCain of Arizona. He also praised Michael Bloomberg, the Democrat-turned-Republican mayor of New York City, who is said to be considering an independent presidential bid.

“I think that if it’s Rudy Giuliani, I think that if it is McCain, he’s a terrific candidate, even Bloomberg, all of those guys are terrific,” he said.

jordan.rau@latimes.com