Arnold ready to power Bush

2004-06-24 20:23

Washington - California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is ready to put his muscle and Hollywood savvy behind President George W Bush's re-election campaign as long as it does not distract him too much from his job, The New York Times said on Thursday.

The bodybuilder-turned-actor-turned-Republican governor told the daily in an interview that he expected to be offered a prominent role at the Republican National Convention late August in New York.

"Whether I'm speaking, I'll leave that up to them," he said. "If they're smart, they'll have me obviously in prime time."

Once the convention is over, however, Schwarzenegger made it clear he would go back to his business of being governor so as not to offend Democratic-friendly California.

He said he would have no problem in appearing with Bush when he comes to California, but that outside the state he was off limits.

"If I start flying around and not spending time here, it could backfire big time" he said, adding that Californians elected him to be their full-time governor and that he was not going to risk his standing by devoting himself to national politics.

Terry Holt, spokesperson for the Bush re-election committee told the daily the convention programme was not complete and that no decision had been made about a Schwarzenegger speech, but quickly added that the campaign would be thrilled to have his support.

- AFP