Crowds gathered Thursday at the parking lot behind Valley Plaza’s Oasis food court. Some were fans, some were protesters. They waited as Queen’s “We Will Rock You” played repeatedly. They stood, packed tightly together in the hot sun with the smell of the food court mingling in the air with many people around them.
This mass of people came out for one reason, to catch a glimpse of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.
The self-proclaimed “Governor of Action” stopped in Bakersfield to thank its citizens for voting for him, noting that Kern County had the highest percentage of recall voters in the entire state. He also wanted to describe the past, present and future of the state’s economy.
Schwarzenegger was joined behind the podium by such politicians as Sen. Roy Ashburn, Assemblywoman Nicole Parra and Assemblyman Dean Florez, as well as a group of various small-business leaders.
Though the crowd in front of the parking lot cheered excitedly for Schwarzenegger as he spoke enthusiastically of his removal of the car tax increase and the law which allowed illegal aliens to drive, it was the crowd off to the side that brought about the most attention, as they protested recent cuts and government actions with signs
The governor’s stay was short. After finishing his speech with his signature “I’ll be back,” he approached the crowd and shook as many hands as possible before disappearing behind the big blue curtain from which he came.
After a 20-minute wait and a couple of people who collapsed in the audience, the meeting came to a close, the supporters passed by the protesters on their way to cars without incident. And Schwarzenegger’s protectors climbed down from on top of the roof of the Valley Plaza, leaving the city of Bakersfield much the way it was before he arrived.