LOS ANGELES, Nov. 2 (UPI) -- Some Republicans are already thinking about California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger for president, Daily Variety reported Tuesday.
Noting the Republican Party will be in the market for another presidential candidate in 2008 regardless of the outcome of today's election, the paper said analysts are coming up with scenarios that involve amending the Constitution so a foreign-born citizen can be elected president. However, the paper said Schwarzenegger has been "typically coy" about his future political ambitions.
On Monday, Schwarzenegger said he would not campaign on behalf of a constitutional amendment.
"It will become too political with me as part of it," he said. "I don't want it to be the Arnold Amendment."
Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, has introduced an amendment that would allow immigrants who have been citizens for 20 years or more to serve as president. Schwarzenegger celebrated the 20th anniversary of his citizenship in 2003.
U.S. Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., supports a bill in the House that would require naturalized citizens to wait 35 years before they could serve as president. If that were the law, Schwarzenegger would not be eligible until 2020, when he will be 73.
