Devildogg4ever
10-16-03, 03:57 AM
Wed Oct 15, 6:44 PM ET
By Ben Berkowitz
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - In Hollywood, the latest trend in real estate may not be seaside mansions but quaint little state houses.
A friend and fellow celebrity of Arnold Schwarzenegger said on Wednesday he wants to join the actor-turned-politician at future gubernatorial conventions by getting elected chief executive of South Dakota.
Pat O'Brien, a graduate of the University of South Dakota who also studied international economics at Johns Hopkins University, said he is seriously considering challenging incumbent Republican Mike Rounds in the 2006 election.
Word of O'Brien's aspirations first came to light in an interview for GQ magazine, which he said was actually conducted before Schwarzenegger announced his intent to run for governor of California in the state's historic recall election.
Schwarzenegger, a sometimes-guest on O'Brien's syndicated Hollywood news show "Access Hollywood," was elected governor of California last week as voters simultaneously threw incumbent Gray Davis out of office.
Davis became the first U.S. governor to be recalled from office since 1921.
And now O'Brien, who is set to anchor a portion of NBC's Olympics coverage next year, has set his sights on loftier pursuits.
"It's a very serious consideration," he said. "I've talked to Tom Daschle about it, I've talked to Tim Johnson about it," he added, referring to the state's two U.S. senators.
O'Brien, a Democrat, said his desire to run for office predates his broadcasting career.
"I grew up studying politics, I worked for the Kennedys, I worked for George McGovern," he said. In fact, he said, he has been pushed toward public service since his days at the University of South Dakota.
"I had a professor there named Bill Farber who has always pushed Tom Brokaw and me -- we were both his students -- into some kind of public service," O'Brien said.
Brokaw is NBC's lead news anchor.
But O'Brien, who said he still has family and property in the state and visits it often, declined to say when he might make a decision on running.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=638&ncid=762&e=1&u=/nm/20031015/en_nm/politics_obrien_dc
By Ben Berkowitz
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - In Hollywood, the latest trend in real estate may not be seaside mansions but quaint little state houses.
A friend and fellow celebrity of Arnold Schwarzenegger said on Wednesday he wants to join the actor-turned-politician at future gubernatorial conventions by getting elected chief executive of South Dakota.
Pat O'Brien, a graduate of the University of South Dakota who also studied international economics at Johns Hopkins University, said he is seriously considering challenging incumbent Republican Mike Rounds in the 2006 election.
Word of O'Brien's aspirations first came to light in an interview for GQ magazine, which he said was actually conducted before Schwarzenegger announced his intent to run for governor of California in the state's historic recall election.
Schwarzenegger, a sometimes-guest on O'Brien's syndicated Hollywood news show "Access Hollywood," was elected governor of California last week as voters simultaneously threw incumbent Gray Davis out of office.
Davis became the first U.S. governor to be recalled from office since 1921.
And now O'Brien, who is set to anchor a portion of NBC's Olympics coverage next year, has set his sights on loftier pursuits.
"It's a very serious consideration," he said. "I've talked to Tom Daschle about it, I've talked to Tim Johnson about it," he added, referring to the state's two U.S. senators.
O'Brien, a Democrat, said his desire to run for office predates his broadcasting career.
"I grew up studying politics, I worked for the Kennedys, I worked for George McGovern," he said. In fact, he said, he has been pushed toward public service since his days at the University of South Dakota.
"I had a professor there named Bill Farber who has always pushed Tom Brokaw and me -- we were both his students -- into some kind of public service," O'Brien said.
Brokaw is NBC's lead news anchor.
But O'Brien, who said he still has family and property in the state and visits it often, declined to say when he might make a decision on running.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=638&ncid=762&e=1&u=/nm/20031015/en_nm/politics_obrien_dc