At the 2004 Republican National Convention , spoke about the reason he became a Republican instead of a Democrat : Thal mayor and longtime schoolmate Peter Urdl said that the teenage Schwarzenegger seemed to hold opinions in line with the Social Democrats and expressed admiration for Bruno Kreisky . '' The New Yorker '' 's Connie Bruck called Schwarzenegger " supermoderate " . Andrew Gumbel of '' The Independent '' wrote , " Schwarzenegger is a man of surprises . He mixes in the social circles of Hollywood 's liberal elite ... yet he has always regarded himself as a staunch Republican — among other things , an act of rebellion against the staunch social democratic values of his native Austria . " '' Los Angeles Times '' writer Joe Mathews wrote that Schwarzenegger routinely sides with business and asserts quasi-libertarian views on individual freedom but has crossed borders and associated with groups whose experiences seem foreign to his own . Daniel Weintraub of the '' San Francisco Chronicle '' wrote , " Schwarzenegger is liberal on some issues , conservative on others and , sometimes , but not always , in the middle . " Rob Long , a television writer and producer , wrote on NPR that Schwarzenegger is a " Hollywood Republican , meaning he 's mellow about gays and abortion and marijuana "
2004 Republican National Convention
2004 Republican National Convention
Political career of Arnold Schwarzenegger