"Then, on Thursday, the governor raised eyebrows again," the pro-Democrat San Francisco Chronicle reported today, when he told radio host Tony Snow he would assist Bush in California, "But I will not go outside the state."

And then his mouthpiece Margita Thompson insisted there was no conflict in the conflicting statements.

"The governor wants to be as helpful as he can to the president," but his priority is governing California, she said. "He has no plans presently to campaign outside California for Bush," but "if they need him to do something later on," he would consider it, she maintained.

Schwarzenegger campaigned with Bush on Thursday in Santa Monica, and that same day he praised Sen. Kerry.

Asked if he believed Kerry would be a bad president, Schwarzenegger told Snow, "No, I'm not saying that at all. ... He's a friend of mine. We lived together, near, in Sun Valley. We go skiing together, ice skating and hockey playing together. ...

"I promised myself that in this campaign, I would never talk negative about him, because he's a terrific human being. I just happen to have a different political philosophy and a different way of thinking the way the country ought to be served."

Editor's note: