'West Wing' star to help Schwarzenegger

Rob Lowe, who played a presidential speech writer in the hit political dramaThe West Wing, is joining the real-life campaign of his fellow actor Arnold Schwarzenegger to help him become the Governor of California.

The Los Angeles Times reported yesterday that Mr Lowe, who is a Democrat while Mr Schwarzenegger is a Republican, will take a "senior position" that is yet to be defined precisely. A formal announcement is expected in a few days.

The appointment will add yet more Hollywood fire-power to a candidacy that has so far been as much about entertainment-industry public relations as it has political substance. Mr Lowe, who has a history of working on political campaigns, though never for Republicans, is a friend of Mr Schwarzenegger's wife, Maria Shriver, a television journalist and member of the Kennedy family.

His involvement may mobilise other stars - most of whom are die-hard Democrats - to support the Terminator, who is popular in the industry.

Mr Schwarzenegger's moves this week seem geared at portraying his candidacy as a bipartisan effort outside easy political definitions. He is also consulting the billionaire investor Warren Buffet, who is also a Democrat. Among Republicans, he has appointed Pete Wilson, a former Californian governor, as his campaign co-chairman, to the consternation of Latino groups who blame Mr Wilson for a series of racially divisive measures. And yesterday he brought in George Schultz, a former secretary of state to Ronald Reagan.

Big questions remain about where Mr Schwarzenegger stands on the issues, not least because he has barely talked since announcing his candidacy but has left much of the media face-time to Mr Wilson. "It's not Pete Wilson who is running for governor," said the independent candidate Arianna Huffington. "I think there's some answering to be done here."

Ms Huffington is the only other candidate to make headlines - although they have not all been complimentary as opponents made hay with the revelation that she barely paid any tax in 2001 and 2002.