President-elect Barack Obama and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger make nice

So much for poking fun at Barack Obama’s scrawny arms.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, a Republican, this morning sounded downright giddy about the impending ascension of Obama, a Democrat, to the White House and the departure of his fellow Republican, President George W. Bush.

Schwarzenegger played a pre-taped video message from the president-elect at a climate-change summit he is sponsoring at the Beverly Hilton with leaders from around the state and the globe. The governor has tangled on climate change with Bush, whose administration has blocked California’s request to have stricter tailpipe emissions standards than federal guidelines mandate.

“I'm excited to report ... that in January, all of this will change, because now there is a new administration coming in,” Schwarzenegger told the delegates.

The governor, who backed Republican presidential candidate John McCain (remember him?), said he was “in sync” with Obama, and the president-elect returned the favor in his message.

“When I am president, any governor who is willing to promote clean energy will have a partner in the White House,” Obama said.

Obama also posted a link Monday on his transition website that asked people to help with the Southern California wildfires through the state’s volunteer agency.

Oh, and never mind about that puny physique, Mr. President-elect. Schwarzenegger has already backed off from the remarks he made campaigning with McCain in Ohio, where the governor holds his annual bodybuilding competition.

“This is one of those jokes that went over very well there,” Schwarzenegger told ABC-TV Channel 7 last week. “So it was not meant to be an insult in any way. It was meant to lighten up the place and to make everyone laugh.”

Traffic on the California website jumped from 15,000 hits a day to 179,000 on Monday.

-- Michael Rothfeld

Comments

[jemp]

Perhaps Gov. Schwarzenegger should have remember another person of African descent (Cuba's Sergio Oliva) who defeated him in the Mr. Olympia competition. Don't know whether Mr. Oliva would have made fun or any condescending remarks to or about Gov. Schwarzenegger. Oh, the prowess of selective and convenient amnesia.

[gman]

Well, let me say this about Gov. Terminator: Without his steriods he too has skinny arms! I've stood next to Ahnold in the grocery store, and I'll bet my arms are bigger than his, and we're the same age. The governor is a wimp.

Cheers.

[Gregy]

I belive Gov can do better job as an actor and can make people laught even better.

[kim]

Arnold the "wanna be ruler of the world" who grew up knowing that he would not be an ordinary man, is waiting to see what happens with the quiet under currents of the Obama Birth Certificate and possible Constitutional crisis. Of course this information of BC won't be a scandal until the time is right. Meanwhile, Arnold will make nice with Obama. When the time is right, Arnold will bring up the BC issue. Arnold will get his way...history reveals this to be true in the quick dethroning of former CA Governor Grey Davis, Enron and the electric energy crisis which worked out well for Arnold (Enron: the Smartest Guys in the Room). Only this time Arnold will use the Obama Kenyan birth as a precept in his quest for the White House. If Obama can do it why not Arnold? A POTUS term could launch Arnolds career to world power. Years back he made public in an interview his "desire to rule the world". How does the story end? The "d" loses, so machs nicht, Herr Schwarzenegger, you Austrian-born special little boy.