Mr Schwarzenegger (right) was to join the Democratic president at a town hall meeting on Thursday in Los Angeles to pitch the plan. -- PHOTO: ASSOCIATED PRESS
LOS ANGELES - PRESIDENT Barack Obama is recruiting Arnold Schwarzenegger and other Republican governors in hopes they will help him sway their fellow party members in Washington who are opposed to his stimulus plan.
Mr Obama is playing the role of the embattled populist crusader, helping average Americans fight entrenched interests in Washington and Wall Street.
Mr Schwarzenegger was to join the Democratic president at a town hall meeting on Thursday in Los Angeles to pitch the plan.
Congress recently enacted Mr Obama's US$787 billion (S$1.2 trillion) stimulus bill without a single vote by a Republican in the House of Representatives, and with only three votes by Republican senators.
The California governor also planned to meet with Mr Obama in Washington on Friday, along with New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg. -- AP
