Schwarzenegger in Dallas today

[TexasStooge]

Associated Press / The Dallas Morning News


DALLAS, Texas - California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger was set to complete his Texas two-step Wednesday, appearing at a Dallas fund-raiser just a day after receiving an award from former President Bush.

Schwarzenegger was expected to raise about $150,000 at the private fund-raising breakfast at a Dallas hotel. He arrived for the breakfast Wednesday morning but was not available for media questions.

Some 50 Texas business leaders were invited, with ticket prices ranging from $1,000 to $20,000. Under California law, contributors can give up to $21,200 to a candidate per election cycle.

The money raised in Dallas will go toward Schwarzenegger's 2006 re-election account, though the Republican governor has not yet said whether he'll seek a second term.

On Tuesday, Schwarzenegger received a public service award from Bush at Texas A&M University, home of the former president's library. The Austrian immigrant served during Bush's presidency as the chairman of the President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports from 1990 to 1993.

"George Bush helped make me a public servant and now I am having the greatest time of my life," Schwarzenegger said.

Bush said it was Schwarzenegger, a bodybuilder who later starred in movies such as "Predator" and "Terminator," who deserved the credit and the 2004 George Bush Award for Excellence in Public Service.

"Try walking into a room with Arnold Schwarzenegger," said Bush, who described California's governor as a "dear friend" who accompanied him as he campaigned for president in 1988.

"I might as well have been the local dog catcher," Bush said. "All eyes were on him. All the cheers were for him."

But the award wasn't about Schwarzenegger's "rock star" status, Bush said. Instead, it is about Schwarzenegger's work to benefit others when he wasn't on the red carpet.

"Not only did Governor Schwarzenegger have faith in himself, he had faith in all of us," Bush told the 2,500 people who attended Tuesday's presentation. "He has demonstrated a lifelong commitment to improving the lives of others."

Schwarzenegger joined former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev and former German Chancellor Helmut Kohl as an award recipient.

Last year, Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., who is the uncle of Schwarzenegger's wife, Maria Shriver, received the award.

"You all are wondering, 'How did Arnold end up winning the same award as Teddy Kennedy?"' Schwarzenegger joked. "I guess I take this as a presidential pardon for my bad movies."

[Wnghs2007]

Hmmm Interesting...Did he see any girlie men. Oh wait its not california its TEXAS