Arnold Schwarzenegger Watch: The Terminator Vs. Bulworth?

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The East Bay Business Times has Warren Beatty to take up nurses’ cause against Schwarzenegger.

In its continuing battle against Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, the California Nurses Association is fighting with its own star power.

The Oakland-based CNA, which has been battling Schwarzenegger over RN staffing ratios and a host of other issues over the past year or so, said Monday that actor, director and political activist Warren Beatty will be the keynote speaker Thursday at its biennial convention in Oakland.

Beatty, mentioned as a potential presidential or California gubernatorial candidate in recent years, will be joined by wife Annette Benning, CNA said, adding to the Hollywood glitz factor.

The actor is a “prominent critic of (Schwarzenegger), the latest in a long line of progressive advocacy stances,” CNA said in a Sept. 19 statement.

Beatty is expected to blast Schwarzenegger’s record and the November special election he’s called, in large part to push for several initiatives that are anathema to CNA and organized labor.

The California Nurses Association and nurse union organizers have been very successful in doggedly stalking Schwarzenegger throughout the summer and driving down the Governor’s poll numbers.

“(Beatty) requested to speak to CNA, which is reflective of the prominence that this organization has obtained as the pre-eminent nurses’ organization in the country,” CNA spokesman Chuck Idelson told the Business Times.

The Thursday convention opener will also feature Oakland Mayor Jerry Brown.

CNA represents 65,000 RNs in California and elsewhere, including some in Illinois, and is ramping up to organize RNs in a number of states, based on its successful model in the Golden State.

Watch the ABC News Video on Bulworth’s speech here.

So, are the nurses and their union bosses sending a message to California State Treasurer Phil Angelides and California State Controller Steve Westly? Both have been criticised as dull, no-name pols who cannot match the star-quality of the Governator.

A Terminator vs. Bulworth match-up?

Flap handicaps it doubtful but it beats a Gary Coleman run.

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