Warren Beatty

Los Angeles, Sept. 25: Warren Beatty is considering a challenge to Arnold Schwarzenegger for the governorship of California next year in what could be a battle of the celebrities.

Speculation over Beatty’s political ambitions began after he addressed a nurses’ union on Thursday. To wild applause and chants of “run, Warren, run”, Beatty, a long-time liberal campaigner, promised to campaign against Schwarzenegger’s “insulting and bullying” attacks on nurses, teachers and firefighters.

Schwarzenegger, 58, a Republican and naturalised American who harnessed his Hollywood star appeal built mainly on his Terminator movies to win a “recall election” victory two years ago, recently said that he would run again for the governorship. Polls show the one-time Mr Universe’s popularity’s to be dwindling, though the Austrian-born Schwarzenegger still hopes to change the constitution so that he may one day be able to run for the White House.

Beatty, 68, has been involved in politics since 1968, when he campaigned with Robert Kennedy, who was assassinated that year. He also supported Senator George McGovern.

When Bill Clinton left office, the actor, who starred in the film Bugsy, was rumoured to be interested in the Democratic presidential nomination, but he ultimately did not run against Al Gore and Bill Bradley.

On Thursday, Beatty attacked the proposals of Schwarzenegger to limit state spending and reduce the power of Democrats in the legislature. The proposals have encountered entrenched opposition, forcing the governor to take the measures directly to voters with a special election in November.

Schwarzenegger believes that his celebrity power will overwhelm the electorate. The involvement of Beatty, however, could change that.

“Government is not showbusiness,” said Beatty, as delegates of the union convention repeatedly interrupted him with standing ovations.

“Government by show, by spin, by cosmetics, by photo- ops, by fake events, by fake crowds ? that’s a mistake. Not facing facts is a mistake ... And I’ll tell you another mistake ? going after the nurses. Nurses save our lives. They take care of us.”

The California Nurses Association has become one of Schwarzenegger’s biggest political headaches after he tried to overturn the lower patient-staffing rations at hospitals introduced by his predecessor, the Democratic governor Gray Davis.

After his speech, Beatty was asked by reporters if he was going to run for the governorship. He replied that it was “not the time for this conversation”, but pointedly did not rule it out.