ARNOLD'S APOLOGY FRONT-RUNNER ADMITS HE HAS 'BEHAVED BADLY'.

Byline: Harrison Sheppard and Rick Orlov Staff Writers

Questions about Arnold Schwarzenegger's attitude toward women burst into the forefront of the recall campaign Thursday as the Republican candidate for governor acknowledged he had ``behaved badly'' with women in the past and apologized for his conduct.

The film star and former champion bodybuilder was accused in an article Thursday in the Los Angeles Times of groping six women between 1975 and 2000. No formal complaints or lawsuits were filed in any of the incidents.

Schwarzenegger, the front-runner to become governor if Gov. Gray Davis is recalled in Tuesday's election, called the article ``trash politics,'' denied some of the allegations but acknowledged ``where there's smoke there is fire.''

``Yes, it is true that I was on rowdy movie sets and I have done things that were not right, which I thought then was playful but now I recognize that I offended people,'' Schwarzenegger said in San Diego as he kicked off a bus tour of the state.

``Those people that I have offended, I want to say to them I am deeply sorry about that and I apologize because that's not what I'm trying to do.''

He promised that if elected governor, he would be ``a champion for the women.''

The new accusations follow earlier published accounts of rowdy behavior and his own expectations that his past would come up in the campaign.

In fact, late Thursday a report aired on ABC News that Schwarzenegger told an interviewer during the filming of the bodybuilding documentary ``Pumping Iron'' in 1975 that he admired Adolf Hitler.

Schwarzenegger responded that he despises Hitler and what he stood for, and that he did not recall making such a statement.

``I know they're going to throw everything at me,'' Schwarzenegger told Jay Leno when he announced his candidacy Aug. 6 on ``The Tonight Show.'' ``They're going to say I'm a womanizer, a terrible guy.''

New protests

The new allegations stirred up fresh protests from women's groups, which were already wary of Schwarzenegger's candidacy because of past allegations of mistreatment of women.

One women's group said it planned to ask Los Angeles County District Attorney Steve Cooley to investigate whether other women had been mistreated by Schwarzenegger.

``This borders on criminal conduct as far as we're concerned,'' said Marci Fukuroda of the California Law Center, in a conference call with reporters. ``This is the sort of behavior that you would expect has continued and we believe it is worth pursuing criminally as misdemeanor sexual battery.''

But Cooley's spokeswoman, Sandi Gibbons, said it is up to police agencies, not the district attorney, to investigate allegations of crime.

Democratic Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante, Schwarzenegger's closest competition in the race to succeed Davis, indicated he believes the accusations of ``sexual battery and harassment'' may have been a criminal violation.

Bustamante issued a statement saying: ``These actions are more than just offensive. The California Penal Code says: 'Any person who touches an intimate part of another person against the will of the person touched ... is guilty of misdemeanor sexual battery.'''

Schwarzenegger spokesman Rob Stutzman shrugged off the statements, attributing them to politicking.

``It's too bad that political organizations would resort to last-minute smear tactics,'' Stutzman said. ``These are people with political agendas and it shouldn't be taken seriously.''

Republican rival Sen. Tom McClintock avoided the chance to attack Schwarzenegger.

``I'm frankly somewhat skeptical of last-minute charges of this nature just a few days before a campaign,'' McClintock said during a debate in Los Angeles on Thursday evening.

He said while he has ``profound differences'' with Schwarzenegger over policy issues, he does not believe the charges should be considered in the campaign.

``I believe this election is about the future of California and the direction each candidate would lead it. Last-minute character assassinations like this I just tend to be somewhat skeptical.''

The request for an investigation came as part of a telephone conference call with officials from the California National Organization for Women and Planned Parenthood, which have come out against the recall and Schwarzenegger.

Helen Greico of California NOW said the story confirms her suspicions of Schwarzenegger's behavior toward women and that she believes it will have a negative impact on him in the election Tuesday.

She also believes male voters will be turned off by Schwarzenegger's activities. ``It will be difficult for them to vote for him and look their wife in the eye, their daughter in the eye, their co-worker in the eye,'' Greico said. ``We think he will lose votes over this.''

Gender gap?

Some analysts said the allegations, coming only days before the election, are likely to hurt Schwarzenegger - who gained support among female voters after a Sept. 24 campaign debate - and make the election closer than it appeared earlier this week when polls showed him far ahead.

``I think the gender gap is back,'' said Barbara O'Connor, director of the Institute for the Study of Politics and the Media at California State University, Sacramento. ``And if women (protesters) appear at every bus stop on the campaign trail this weekend, it's going to make for great television.''

In fact, new protests began Thursday afternoon, as a coalition of women's groups appeared at Schwarzenegger's Santa Monica headquarters and planned a second protest today.

O'Connor said Schwarzenegger was able to dismiss previous allegations as youthful indiscretions from long ago, but can't do that now because the new allegations are as recent as 2000. Still, voters show the capacity to ultimately overlook such behavior, as many did with former President Clinton, she said.

Personally, O'Connor added, ``I was totally disgusted. The specificity of the incidents makes your skin crawl.''

Early in the campaign Schwarzenegger had problems attracting women voters because of his overly macho image, but had tried to close that gap with appearances on Oprah Winfrey's show and by having his wife, broadcast journalist Maria Shriver, make campaign appearances.

Shriver had no comment Thursday, her spokeswoman said.

A recent CNN poll found that women supported Schwarzenegger more than any other candidate, but by about 5 percentage points less than male voters.

No Davis attack

Davis and his campaign were careful to note they played no part in the story or prompting the women to come forward, and Davis declined to use the story to criticize Schwarzenegger.

``I would just rather leave this matter to the voters of this state,'' Davis said in Santa Monica, where he signed a bill promoting environmental education in schools. ``They will digest it. They will decide what importance to attach to it and they will decide what impact it has on the choices before them next Tuesday.''

He added it has become clear that Schwarzenegger will win the candidate question on the ballot so voters are now faced with a choice of retaining him or electing the actor.

The allegations were similar to those made in a Premiere magazine article in 2001. Just prior to the 2002 governor's race, a Davis strategist had faxed that article to reporters across the state, and it was believed to be one of the factors that kept Schwarzenegger out of the race then, although he cited movie commitments.

Also, an interview with Oui magazine in 1977 resurfaced recently in which he spoke crudely about women and talked about participating in a orgy at a gym. But he recently said some of those statements had been exaggerated for publicity.

Jack Pitney, a government professor at Claremont McKenna College, said the amount of damage could be minimized because stories had previously surfaced of Schwarzenegger's behavior and because he is not running on a traditional values campaign so he cannot be accused of hypocrisy. He also does not already have support from the party's most conservative elements who emphasize traditional morality, because of his moderate views on social issues.

``He hasn't held himself up as a paragon of virtue,'' Pitney said. ``That takes away the morality issue.''

Harrison Sheppard, [phone]

harrison.sheppard(at)dailynews.com

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(color) Gubernatorial candidate Arnold Schwarzenegger attends a Costa Mesa rally Thursday. The GOP front-runner apologized for his past treatment of women.

Chris Carlson/Associated Press