Groperzenegger for Sale

Governor put on auction block STATE NURSES UNION PULLS GAG ON EBAY -- FIRM YANKS POSTING By Kate Folmar - Mercury News Sacramento Bureau SACRAMENTO - Arnold Schwarzenegger has famously asserted that he cannot be bought by donors. On Tuesday, his critics begged to differ: They briefly put the governor up for sale on auction giant eBay. The gag, one slightly tarnished Schwarzenegger, was placed up for bid by the California Nurses Association, a labor union that has been battling and belittling the Republican governor for months, at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday. By 4:19 p.m., eBay shut down the sale. "GENUINE CORRUPT CALIFORNIA GOVERNOR ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER NOT AN IMITATION!!!!!!**********," read the listing, which included a sepia-toned photograph of Schwarzenegger with dollar signs replacing his eyes. The reference -- subtle, yes -- was to Schwarzenegger's prodigious fundraising. Critics believe the governor's quest for cash results in policies that favor big-business donors over average folks -- a charge his aides dismiss outright. Bidding started at $12 and peaked at more than $3.6 million before eBay yanked the posting. It violated company policies barring the sale of people, trying to sell something you do not own and posting joke listings. "You can't sell the governor on eBay," said company spokesman Hani Durzy. Team Arnold was unfazed. After all, Republicans in 2002 created egray.com, a Web site making similar allegations about then-Gov. Gray Davis. "It's an old gag," said Schwarzenegger campaign strategist Rob Stutzman. "They've got to be original."