LONG BEACH, Calif. (AP) -- Arnold Schwarzenegger was a no-show at the initial debate of California's recall election Wednesday and delivered what was billed as his first major campaign speech, getting pelted with an egg as he waded through a crowd at a college campus.
"You have such a fantastic life, Arnold, you make millions of dollars to do movies and all those kinds of things, why do you want to do this?" Schwarzenegger asked rhetorically in his address.
"And you know something, because everything that I've gotten -- my career, my money, my family -- everything that I've gotten and achieved is because of California," he said to cheers at California State University, Long Beach.
As Schwarzenegger worked the crowd, the egg splattered on the back of his left shoulder. An aide tried to wipe it off, but he simply peeled off his coat and went ahead with his speech.
"This guy owes me bacon now," he joked later. "I mean there's no two ways about it because, I mean, you can't just have eggs without bacon. But this is all part of, you know, the free speech."
The speech came hours before the start of the debate involving five other candidates in the recall race: Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante, the only prominent Democrat running as a replacement candidate; state Sen. Tom McClintock and former baseball commissioner Peter Ueberroth, both Republicans; television personality Arianna Huffington, an independent; and Green Party candidate Peter Camejo.
Gov. Gray Davis was not in the debate itself but was given 30 minutes at the outset to make his case before a panel of journalists and wider television and radio audiences.
In part two, the five of the 135 candidates battling to replace Davis were to field questions and debate among themselves.
Candidates qualified for the debate by receiving at least 4 percent support in either a recent poll or the last statewide vote.
Schwarzenegger has agreed to participate in only one debate, on Sept. 24, in which the questions will be provided to candidates in advance -- unlike Wednesday's debate. That decision has drawn criticism from Republicans and Democrats alike.
Schwarzenegger's absence fit into his campaign strategy of appearing in public in controlled settings where he avoids protracted questioning from reporters, and critics have said he is not attending because he cannot see the questions in advance.
Hundreds of students crammed the university quad for Schwarzenegger's speech under the hot afternoon sun. Some were Young Republicans invited from other schools, according to the actor's campaign.
Several opponents from La Raza Student Association heckled him for his past support of Proposition 187, which sought to deny services to illegal immigrants. They held a sign saying "Hasta la vista Latinos." Supporters drowned out the hecklers with chants of "Arnold, Arnold, Arnold."
Schwarzenegger broke no new ground in what was touted as the first major speech of his campaign, although he has held news conferences and spoken at other events.
Talking later to reporters, he was questioned about his decision to opt out of the debate. Schwarzenegger stressed the importance of going up and down the state to get the views of Californians in many walks of life.
"One of my favorite things to do is stand there with people and debate over the issues and then let the people decide," he said.
Schwarzenegger's campaign also released three new television ads, one 15 seconds long and two lasting 30 seconds, showing the actor sitting at a table with people and promising to fight special interests and clean up the state.
"Now, here is my plan: audit everything, open the books, and then we end the crazy deficit spending," he says in one ad.
The campaign also launched a 60-second radio ad featuring the president of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, which has endorsed Schwarzenegger.
The ads began airing on the same day as a new ad from Davis which features Sen. Dianne Feinstein speaking against the recall.
