Is Ahnold softening position on a Senate run?

You didn’t really count him out, did you?

After previously ruling it out, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) appears to be softening his rhetoric on a possible run for the Senate, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

The governor regularly dismisses talk of another political run – specifically for U.S. Senate – as something he’s just not interested in, but recently he appeared to soften his words.

Asked by a Chronicle reporter at a Commonwealth Club of California appearance this month whether he ruled out a U.S. Senate run, the governor wasn’t definitive – and deftly sidestepped the question.

“I have my hands full with all the stuff I’m doing now,” he said, referring to his campaign to pass a package of budget-related propositions that are on a special-election May 19 ballot. “I’m concentrating on that and not what I’m going to do next,” he said.

“You know,” he added, as he signed autographs, “I’m not a politician. I’m a public servant.”

Hmmmm.

Always highly ambitious, and since he can never run for president, challenging Sen. Barbara Boxer (D) might make the most sense. Schwarzenegger would like have a hard time overcoming this tremendous budget problems in California. A recent poll show Boxer has a sizable lead – 50 percent to 34 percent. That is particularly significant since Schwarzenegger has very high name ID.

jeremy.jacobs@digital-stage.thehill.com