Schwarzenegger 'may run for Governor'

The race to become California's next Governor needs livening up and some Republicans think they have the answer: bring in the Terminator.

Arnold Schwarzenegger has talked about running for Governor before and, until this week, had appeared to be positioning himself for a run next time around, in 2006. But that was before the current race turned sour.

The Democratic incumbent, Gray Davis, is widely loathed for his incompetent handling of California's recent electricity crises and for his often brazen soliciting of campaign funds from lobbyists.

But his Republican challenger is even worse. Bill Simon, a scandal-laden businessman with no previous experience of politics, has proved so embarrassingly incompetent that senior Republicans won't be seen with him in public. His campaign coffers are running so dry he had to give himself a $4m(£2.6m) loan yesterday just to keep going.

Schwarzenegger has been quietly campaigning for after-school childcare programmes. This week, pollsters working for him began asking voters what they would think of a late candidacy for Governor.

Nothing has been decided, but to qualify to run in November as a "write-in" candidate – meaning voters would have to write his name on the ballot – all he needs is 100 signatures of support by 22 October.