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Arnie and Johnny Mac had their little love-in this morning with Rudy G looking on. But Gov. Schwarzenegger's public endorsement of McCain was sandwiched by an abundance of pandering.
Even the host CEO of Solar Integrated Technologies, took full advantage of the hundreds of journalists in attendance to pimp his company.
"This is an example of how much excitement solar energy can create," said Schwarzenegger. "I love it." But the excitement had little to do with a too-long lecture on solar energy. It was all about McCain.
But the governor's positions on clean energy and fighting greenhouse gases seemed totally lost on Sen. McCain, whose rhetoric at times sounded eerily Bush-like, pitching unpopular strawmen about the war in Iraq (Petraeus, success), the economy, and global warming (it's worth debating).
McCain even joked that he wished he could be California's third senator, noting there hasn't been a democratic Senate rep. in this state for years. This could also be seen as a dig at Senators Feinstein and Boxer's recent battle with the EPA to enable California to set its own emission standards. A dozen other states hope to tighten emissions regulations based on California's argument but McCain's Arizona is not one of them.
McCain is looking strong in the Republican race right now. McCain is running on a vision for a so-called big tent government but it's beginning to sound more and more like the broken tent of the Bush Administration.
Photos by Charles Dharapak/AP