While Arnold promotes T3, political rumors abound

ARNOLD Schwarzenegger is out promoting his new movie, "Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines." He is attacking his publicity regimen -- Leno, Howard Stern, "Good Morning America" -- with customary discipline.

He is not interested in discussing whether he'll run for governor of California. "Arnold is staying on message, and the message is T3," says George Gorton, a Republican consultant who is advising Schwarzenegger on matters that are, right now, not on message.

But politics is following Arnold everywhere. There are "Arnold for Governor" signs outside the "T3" premiere. A few nights earlier on Leno, Snoop Dogg had christened him "Notorious G.O.P." "I would love to be governor of California," Arnold himself says in the current Esquire.

Cynics might say -- and God save cynics in Dreamland -- that Arnold Schwarzenegger, 55, is attempting to exploit interest in his potential candidacy to promote his movie. Or exploit his "T3" promotional efforts to promote his campaign. Either way, Schwarzenegger is starring in this summer's biggest cross-promotional blockbuster.

He is a muscular man of monomaniacal focus. In the 1975 cult documentary "Pumping Iron," Schwarzenegger boasts of how he didn't return home to Austria after his father died because he feared it would interfere with his bodybuilding workouts. The Mr. Olympia competition was just a few months away -- just as California might be a few months and a few thousand signatures away from firing its Democratic governor, Gray Davis, in an unprecedented recall initiative.

But again, Schwarzenegger, who is married to Kennedy cousin Maria Shriver, is not discussing politics. Not until he's finished promoting "T3," which sold an estimated $44 million in tickets last weekend. Not now, not publicly and not for this article, for which he declined to comment.

Which is something of a True Lie, because Arnold, in fact, is talking endlessly about politics. Others are bringing it up and he hardly shies from it.

"You will be the next governor of California.... We will help," Howard Stern told Schwarzenegger on his radio show recently. "I'll get you in office. But I need to be invited to the mansion."

"There is no mansion in Sacramento," Schwarzenegger said.

"Then I need to videotape you and Maria having sex," Stern said. "I need some sort of perverted payment."

One gets the feeling this could be more fun than, say, the Lieberman campaign.

Arnold's celebrity muscle is unquestioned, even if how that translates to electoral success is not. Outside the "T3" premiere at the Mann Village Theatre here, Amanda Wight would seem the passionate embodiment of his appeal. A big fan of Arnold, and a non-fan of Davis, she drove two hours from Bakersfield to catch a glimpse. If only she were old enough to vote (she's 17).

Across the street, Brent Seguine, who is old enough to vote, is bemoaning the mess his home state faces. Seguine, the comptroller of a chemical company who has been here for 11/2 hours, is standing a few feet from a "Terminate Gray" sign that's been discarded.

"I can't vote for Arnold for governor," says Scott, who's from Illinois, "so I'll wait for him to run for president." He is told that Schwarzenegger was born in Austria and thus is constitutionally barred from the presidency. Regardless, Scott and Seguine agree that Arnold's candidacy would thrive among Three Stooges fans.

And bodybuilders. "They are Arnold's most fervent supporters," says Gorton, the consultant. "When Arnold walks into a gym, these guys come up to him and tell their stories. They'll say, 'I used to be a 90-pound weakling, but then I read your book and saw your video and whatever.' Arnold's like a god to these people. I'm not saying you could win an election on that, but..."

One of the sweetest parts about a Schwarzenegger candidacy is listening to political pros discuss his prospects. He clearly has to run as Kindergarten Cop, not as the Terminator, says Phil Trounstine, director of the Survey and Policy Research Institute at San Jose State University. Trounstine, a former press secretary to Davis and political reporter for the San Jose Mercury News, says the candidate would need to project a kinder, softer image.

Schwarzenegger's violent record on celluloid won't hurt him if he runs, says Republican consultant Don Sipple. If he played a well-known serial killer character, it might be a problem, Sipple says. For instance, Anthony Hopkins, of Silence of the Lambs fame, might struggle to expand his base beyond cannibals.

The basic plot line of Total Recall 2 begins with protagonist Gray Davis, whose approval ratings have plunged to 21 percent. He finds himself in a death match with a $38 billion budget deficit, a hostile legislature and an increasingly viable recall campaign.>