Arnie: I would run for president

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger says he would be interested in running for president if the Constitution were amended to allow foreign-born citizens to seek the nation’s highest office.

During an interview for Sunday’s CBS programme “60 Minutes,” Schwarzenegger said, “Yes, absolutely” when asked if he would like to run and would support such an amendment.

Schwarzenegger, 57, had previously deflected the question.

“I think, you know, because why not? I mean, you know, anyone with my way of thinking, you always shoot for the top,” the governor said. “But it’s not something that I am preoccupied with.

“I am not thinking one single minute about that because there’s so many things I have to do in California, and my promise was to straighten out the mess in California,” he said.

Schwarzenegger, a native of Austria, came to the United States in 1968 and built a fortune as a champion body builder and actor. He won his first bid for public office in last year’s gubernatorial recall election in California.

Senator Orrin Hatch, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, has proposed an amendment that would allow immigrants to run for president after being citizens for 20 years. Schwarzenegger became a citizen in 1983.

Schwarzenegger is to receive an award for public service next month in Texas from former President George H W Bush. Presentation of the George Bush Award for Excellence in Public Service will accompany the movie star politician’s address on November 30 at Texas A&M University’s Rudder Auditorium.