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Thursday, October 25, 2007
Schwarzenegger: Being 'with the people' is key
IRVINE, California (CNN) -- He calls himself a "hands-on governor" to begin with, but Arnold Schwarzenegger tells CNN he takes an important lesson from the angry aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

"Being out there with the people is the key thing," Schwarzenegger us as we spent several hours with him heading from briefings on the fires to a gym turned into a shelter for some 300 people in Irvine.

"Don't hide in your capital because there's no action there at all," the actor turned politician said in an interview. "The action is out there with the fires where people are displaced, in the centers and so forth, you got to be out there, I think that's the key thing and to make decisions very quickly and to be right there when you may have to make decisions."

-- By John King, CNN Chief National Correspondent
Posted By CNN: 12:56 PM ET
  4 Comments
I think the Governor is doing the right thing by being with the people and doing all he can to help. Sitting in your office is not going to get anything done.

By the way John......don't touch anymore hot stuff on the ground....not cool :P
Posted By Megan O. Toronto, ON, Canada : 1:30 PM ET
The Governor is right and he's been hands-on for many California disasters. He just gets out there and connects with the people and I commend him for that.
In my opinion, politics should not be given a platform or a voice in the middle of a disaster.
We are not Republicans or Democrats, we're Americans, and I hope we all don't lose sight of that.
Posted By Lorie Ann, Buellton, Calif. : 1:45 PM ET
I never thought I'd think that Schwarznegger was a good governor but I have to admit he does an awful lot of things right. This is just another one of them. The leadership he is showing by being there and accessible to make decisions, and so the displaced people can see him and know that he cares enough about what is happening to come, and his encouragement and support of the fire personnel - you don't see many who exhibit good leadership like that. I hope other politicians will take a lesson from his book and be more responsive, organized, and as proactive and accessible as he is and maybe we all will be better off.

Annie Kate
Birmingham AL
Posted By Annie Kate : 2:55 PM ET
I wish more Republicans could say and do the great things Arnie has done the last few days. He has been brilliant in my opinion. He has reponded quickly and spoken more about the real loss of life, and loss of homes to the working class Californians. Good on him. Also, Mr Cooper, I think your coverage and blog are brilliant. Keep up the great work.
Posted By Anonymous : 5:26 PM ET
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