SCHWARZENEGGER'S DRUG, SEXUAL PAST BROUGHT UP IN RACE

Arnold, You Have Some Explaining To Do.

What do you mean you don't remember "all the things" you did 30 years ago?

You know, the things you told soft-porn magazine, Oui, about in 1977? The
interview where you talk about being in orgies and using drugs ... but only
"grass and hash."

And why won't you commit to a debate with the other governor wannabes? Is
the man who boldly announced his candidacy on The Tonight Show really "a
scaredy-cat" as the lieutenant governor's campaign staff claimed?

It has been a tough week for Arnold Schwarzenegger in California's recall
election.

After a strategically brilliant campaign -- and few specifics about how he
would govern -- made him the Republican frontrunner to replace Governor
Gray Davis if the Democrat is ousted on Oct. 7, Schwarzenegger suddenly is
besieged by questions about his past.

Senator Tom McClintock, a Republican from Thousand Oaks, a Los Angeles
suburb, said yesterday: "You know, I'm not interested in Arnold's sex life.
What I'm interested in is Arnold's secret political views. Let's debate."
As of last night, Schwarzenegger was still the only major candidate who'd
not agreed to be part of the first recall debate on Sept. 3 in Northern
California.

Sean Walsh, a Schwarzenegger spokesman, promised he would debate, but
added: "We have well over a dozen debate requests, everything from network
debates down to small community groups. We are assessing all of those
requests. When we make a determination about the number of proper debates
to engage in and the timing, we'll make our intentions known."

Meanwhile, about that interview?

It was printed while Schwarzenegger's film about body-building, Pumping
Iron, was playing in theatres, and it has the ring of lewd self-promotion.
Schwarzenegger was 29 and single at the time.

"Bodybuilders party a lot, and once, in Gold's -- the gym in Venice, Calif,
where all the top guys train -- there was a black girl who came out naked.
Everybody jumped on her and took her upstairs, where we all got together."
But he said not everyone had sex with her. "Just those who were willing to
have sex in front of their friends."

Schwarzenegger also said he used drugs but only "grass and hash."
Schwarzenegger, who has been courting conservatives on talk radio,
responded to questions about the 1977 interview Wednesday on a Sacramento
radio station. He said he has been married 17 years and has four children.
He said he trusts voters will forgive his youthful indiscretions.