Schwarzenegger open to Obama position

WASHINGTON, July 13 (UPI) -- Arnold Schwarzenegger, the Republican governor of California, said Sunday he would listen to offers from Barack Obama if the Democrat wins his White House bid.

Appearing on ABC's "This Week with George Stephanopoulos," Schwarzenegger hinted that despite his support for presumptive Republican presidential candidate John McCain, he potentially would be open to serving in an Obama administration should the Illinois senator win the general election in November.

"No matter who is president, I don't see this as a political thing," he said. "We always have to help, no matter what the administration is."

Obama had previously credited the California governor for his political dealings and discussed him as a possible Cabinet addition despite Schwarzenegger being a Republican.

"There are things I don't agree with him on, but he's taken leadership on a very difficult issue (climate change) and we haven't seen that kind of leadership in Washington," Obama said last December.

Schwarzenegger also took time to credit his fellow Republican from Arizona for his bipartisan efforts in the U.S. Senate.

"I think that his (McCain's) record shows that he maybe has his ideas, but he sees, also, the Democrats have their ideas," Schwarzenegger said. "And he's interested in molding his ideas together with the Democratic ideas in order to come up with a compromise."