Scott's World -- UPI Arts & Entertainment

HOLLYWOOD, June 24 (UPI) -- Given Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura's decision not to run for re-election next year, will Arnold Schwarzenegger reconsider the possibility of running for governor of California four years hence?

Both Ventura and Schwarzenegger are physical bruisers and both are/were political novices.

They are national figures: Ventura was one of professional wrestling's most publicized behemoths. Schwarzenegger, called the Austrian Oak, was a seven-time muscle-building champion.

They share deep baritones and millions of admirers of both sexes.

While Schwarzenegger is an avowed Republican and Ventura a fence-sitting Democrat, they are essentially conservative men who seem to share a dislike for professional political hacks.

Ventura exploited his fame and popularity to plunge right into the political arena and win by a razor-thin plurality, but soon was bogged down in the political ooze established by veteran trough-feeders.

Conversely, Arnold has been flirting with the idea of running for governor of California for the past three years or so and doubtless watched Ventura's misadventures in the Midwest with conflicting emotions.

Of late, Arnold has backed away from discussing tentative plans to test the political waters. Aside from physical size and charismatic aura, Ventura and Schwarzenegger have little in common.

To begin with, Arnold is foreign-born. A native of Austria, he speaks with a Teutonic accent, part of his considerable charm.

Unlike Ventura, who sometimes played a dismaying goon in the wrestling ring, Arnold has established himself in movies as a gentle giant who can be moved to feats of rage when crossed.

Off-screen Schwarzenegger is a soft-spoken man who obviously loves children. He is a fervent American patriot devoted to his adopted country as much as any political office holder. He is an educated man and a graduate of the University of Wisconsin. This week he received an honorary doctorate from Chapman University in California's Orange County.

At that university's graduation ceremonies Sunday, Schwarzenegger gave an articulate speech to the graduates. Appearing comfortable in academic robes and mortar board, the 54-year-old movie star spoke on behalf of better educational opportunities and a ballot initiative to finance extracurricular activities for children.

With the confidence of any politician, Schwarzenegger is at ease on a podium using reasoning and charm in contrast to Ventura's bellicose bombast. He also speaks with the ring of authenticity, having donated considerable sums of money to a variety of social and educational causes.

President George Bush, the elder, appointed him chairman of the president's Council on Physical Fitness, and he became a member of the politically Democratic Kennedy family after marrying TV broadcaster Maria Shriver, a niece of Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass.

Schwarzenegger is also rich, a multimillionaire. His movie salary is $25 million-plus per film and he is a Santa Monica real estate tycoon with dozens of properties.

Arnold owns two palatial estates, one in Sun Valley, Idaho, and the other in fashionable Pacific Palisades, Calif. He keeps a low profile in both communities.

He is a fiercely effective advocate for America's children, working avidly for after-school programs for youngsters in addition to promoting better schools across the country.

In interviews he has identified himself as a fiscal conservative but a social liberal, a philosophical stance of many middle-class California Democrats as well as Republicans.

So far, Schwarzenegger has proved cautious and canny about knocking politicians in general, avoiding Ventura's mistakes in Minnesota.

Diplomat Schwarzenegger might remember that Ronald Reagan, a lesser movie star than himself, amassed a strong base of support among professional Republican politicians before running for California governor.

Ventura failed to organize a support team of state legislators when he bowled over the professionals in his campaign three years ago.

Apparently learning from Ventura's blunders, studying Reagan's success and that of Hollywood's song-and-dance-man George Murphy -- who was elected California senator -- Schwarzenegger is playing his hand tactfully.

True or not, gossip and tabloid scandal sheets have blatantly suggested that Schwarzenegger is a ladies' man of significant standing. No Bill Clinton, to be sure, but nonetheless a formidable dude with the gentler sex.

Yet Schwarzenegger's domestic scene has been depicted regularly as loving, serene and private. He and Maria are parents of four children: Katherine, Christina, Patrick and Christopher.

Perhaps Schwarzenegger's most impressive character trait regarding his political ambitions is a palpable sincerity in improving living conditions for all and a genuine concern for the downtrodden.

He sometimes plays villains in movies but off-screen he projects the same warm-hearted, open demeanor that propelled Reagan into the California governor's office.

Schwarzenegger cannot be accused of seeking fame and fortune, both of which he has attained spectacularly, to become one of the world's most recognizable human beings.

It would appear, then, that Schwarzenegger sincerely wants to give back something to the state and country that made it possible for this penniless immigrant to live the American Dream.