KMAX: News of the West

LOS ANGELES (AP) Arnold Schwarzenegger is following an old political tradition with his criticism of the media and the women he is accused of groping: blame the messenger.

From President Bill Clinton to Justice Clarence Thomas, officials have sought to steer the focus away from allegations that threatened to undo their public careers by calling into question the people making the allegations.

``It's something all politicians do. You blame the messenger to distract attention from the message,'' said Shaun Bowler, a political science professor at University of California, Riverside.

In Schwarzenegger's case, the actor-cum-politician has gone on the attack against the Los Angeles Times for its reports detailing claims of misconduct from 15 women. Aides have accused the newspaper of practicing ``irresponsible journalism'' and denounced the allegations as a last-minute smear campaign to help Gov. Gray Davis.

Schwarzenegger himself, while not disputing some of the accounts, has apologized for past behavior and said the charges were designed to undermine his front-runner status in the recall election. But he has also sugested his political opponents were somehow involved in the allegations, and asked why the women didn't come forward sooner.

``Why have they not called me?,'' he said Saturday. ``Why has no one said, `Arnold you went too far.' If someone said this to me I would apologize immediately. ... This is all about the politics, the dirty, dirty politics.''

Schwarzenegger supporters say some of the women have Democratic connections, and castigating the newspaper for publishing its stories so close to Tuesday's election.

``This whole thing is bogus,'' said Vincent McNally, who attends Schwarzenegger's church in Santa Monica. ``I think the Times had to stretch the truth to the limit to write that story.''

Nearly 1,000 readers had canceled their subscriptions by Saturday night, the newspaper reported Sunday. The paper also received up to 400 phone calls complaining about the coverage.

Schwarzenegger isn't the first political candidate or nominee to pursue a strategy of questioning accusers and ``running against the press,'' analysts say.

After allegations of sexual misconduct surfaced against Clarence Thomas, Anita Hill was roundly criticized by the nominee's defenders. And as President Clinton tried to squash allegations that he had a sexual relationship with an intern, first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton said he was the victim of a ``vast right-wing conspiracy.''

During Clinton's campaign in 1992, aides suggested his Republican opponents were colluding with Gennifer Flowers to hurt his chances in the primary.

``The whole sleazy little cabal of 'em come up here to knock us off,'' said James Carville, Clinton's campaign manager said at the time.

The most famous example, however, is the censure President Nixon and his lieutenants directed at the Washington Post when Watergate revelations threatened his re-election campaign.

``Nixon said the Post was a Democratic newspaper out to get him,'' said Raphael Sonenshein, professor of political science at California State University, Fullerton. ``There was a genuine hatred for the Post among Nixon's people.''

Analysts said Schwarzenegger's campaign risked a backlash among voters sympathetic to the women, but wouldn't likely draw fire for criticizing the Times because of a general distrust of the media.

Bruce Cain, a political scientist at the University of California, Berkeley, said Schwarzenegger's damage control was ``textbook'' and predicted the tactic could pay off.

``They just need to get through the election,'' Cain said. ``And my guess is that they're going to be able to prevent themselves from bleeding to death.''