Bully Pulpit: Schwarzenegger Calls California Democrats "Girlie Men" (July 19, 2004)

What was the deal?  At a rally on July 17, 2004, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, addressing shoppers at a megamall rally and frustrated at delays in the budget process, called state Democrats "girlie men" for their refusal to publicly embrace their special interest loyalty to unions and trial lawyers.  The phrase alluded to a then well-known Saturday Night Live skit in which two Schwarzeneggerian (just go with me on that) weight lifters named Hans and Franz regularly wielded the term against the unbuff and unmanly.  An example of the routine can be found here.  Democrats objected to the remark as sexist, homophobic, bullying, and beneath the dignity of the governorship.

What did he say?  Not much.  The governor responded only through his staff in the days after the rally.  A report about the incident can be found here and a video clip here.

How did he do?  Well, no one was exactly shocked by Schwarzenegger's bluster.  One spokesman scoffed at the the idea of an apology (mortification strategy) but did employ a few image repair strategies, such as correction (the line was dropped at a subsequent rally) and denial (the term was not intended as a comment on the masculinity or sexual orientation of Democratic lawmakers).  The actual intent was explained as the governor's "way of saying they're wimps" for giving in to special interests. Okay, I'm pretty sure that differentiation doesn't help the quality of political discourse in our country, but I guess it's less offensive...?  In response to the criticism that the line is not typical of U.S. political rhetoric, Schwarzenegger's camp even offered the controversy as further evidence of his popular outsider brand (bolstering strategy) by arguing that "there are a lot of things that are not normal in politics about the governor."

Final Call?  Cakewalk.  Although the "girlie men" remark may have been beneath the dignity of the governorship, it probably wasn't beneath the dignity of the mall food court where Schwarzenegger delivered the line.  Frankly, Schwarzenegger probably could have ignored the flap altogether and still emerged unscathed, as evidenced by the fact that he used the term again later that summer during his high-profile speech at the 2004 Republican National Convention.  No, really he did, as you can see here, although his newly-coined "economic girlie men" was a bit awkward.  Yes, this case appears somewhat silly at the surface, but it clearly illustrates Democrats' precarious standing in the post-9/11, post-Iraq invasion world of 2004.  Positioned as outsiders on national security and military issues, the party endured endless attacks for being "weak" and is still struggling to break free of that easy-to-tell media narrative.  There's also probably something to say about a parody subject's appropriation of parody for political attack.  But I think I've probably written enough about this...