Schwarzenegger endorses McCain

With his endorsement of John McCain for the presidency this morning, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger seized an opportunity to push forward his own policy agenda within the GOP after years of resistance from Washington Republicans.

Schwarzenegger praised the Arizona senator as a “great American hero” who - like himself - is not afraid to buck the Republican establishment. McCain, in turn, promised to crusade for Schwarzenegger’s signature style of environmentalism. It incorporates the emissions curbs that Republicans have long been reluctant to embrace, with investment in green technology and - true to Schwarzenegger’s jet-setting lifestyle – limited sacrifice in quality of life.

Schwarzenegger made the much-anticipated announcement on the floor of a Los Angeles factory that produces solar roofing systems. “This is the future,” Schwarzenegger said.

McCain “has a great vision to protect the environment and also protect the economy,” Schwarzenegger said. “He has shown the action over and over again.”

The coveted endorsement from California’s popular governor is expected to help McCain cement his status as the Republican frontrunner. And it also gives Schwarzenegger yet another national platform for his own ideas - and the promise for more acceptance of those ideas within his own party, should McCain ultimately win the nomination.

Schwarzenegger’s work on global warming, while popular with voters, has long been mocked by much of the GOP establishment. Conservatives routinely criticize the landmark law Schwarzenegger signed to curb greenhouse gas emissions as anti-competitive and unnecessary. Schwarzenegger’s administration, meanwhile, is constantly wrangling with the White House over other state environmental policies.

But McCain has embraced the governor’s work on the environment - choosing to stand with Schwarzenegger even as it may cost him support among the conservatives in California and elsewhere he needs to win the Republican nomination.

“I am very honored to know this governor has taken the lead in this great state to protect the environment,” McCain said. “He knows it is not only important to California but to the world.”

Schwarzenegger’s endorsement came less than two weeks after he announced he was planning to remain neutral in the race. But the governor said he decided to get involved after another candidate he favored, former New York Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani, dropped out Wednesday and endorsed McCain.

“Both of them are friends of mine,” Schwarzenegger said. “When I saw Mayor Giuliani discontinue campaigning and endorsing Sen. McCain, I felt it was time for me also to come out and endorse Sen. McCain.”

Giuliani also appeared alongside the senator at this morning’s event.

“This is a man who is moving us into our future,” Giuliani said. “He understands how to do it and also understands how to keep us safe in a time of peril.”

This is not the first time McCain and Schwarzenegger have campaigned together.

McCain campaigned with Schwarzenegger for the ill-fated ballot measures the governor championed in his 2005 “year of reform.” Even as the governor’s poll numbers plummeted that year along with support for his ballot measures, McCain boarded a bus with Schwarzenegger and supported him at rallies. The senator also helped the governor with fundraising for his reelection in 2006.

“I think Sen. McCain has proven over and over again that he is reaching across the aisle to get things done,” Schwarzenegger said.

evan.halper@latimes.com