'ARNOLD FOR PRESIDENT' IS NO JOKE CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT AIM OF GOVERNOR'S SUPPORTERS.

Byline: Steve Geissinger Sacramento Bureau

In the 1993 film ``Demolition Man,'' Sylvester Stallone drew chuckles when his character - catapulted into the future - discovered Arnold Schwarzenegger had been a U.S. president.

``Even though he wasn't born in the country, his popularity at the time caused the 61st Amendment,'' co-star Sandra Bullock explained.

``I don't wanna know,'' Stallone interrupted with disgust.

Now Schwarzenegger is governor and chuckles have turned to supportive chants - or gasps - from America's voters.

As his fans and foes argue through the Internet, the Austrian-born governor rides high in the polls, and congressional efforts are under way to clear a path to the White House for immigrants.

Although he has dismissed a presidential bid as a distraction from his job as California's chief executive, Schwarzenegger told CBS' ``60 Minutes'' that he would like to run for the White House.

``Anyone with my way of thinking, you always shoot for the top.''

Analysts and political observers say his superstar status could help fuel a constitutional change to let foreign-born citizens become president - and make national politics more exciting.

``Arnold and his wife (Maria Shriver) in the White House would be a human interest story unlike anything we've ever seen before and far more interesting than Ron and Nancy (Reagan) or Bill and Hillary (Clinton),'' said Doug Willis, a retired Associated Press correspondent who covered Ronald Reagan from statehouse to the presidency.

``There would be two celebrities, plus the (Shriver) Kennedy connection and four kids! What more could you ask for in a celebrity presidency?''

To promote Schwarzenegger, a pair of Los Angeles entrepreneurs, Marshall Miller and Joshua Mikael, have launched a Web site, www.operationarnold.com.

Independently, a Menlo Park mutual-fund manager has founded www.amendforarnold.com and has started cable TV ads.

``Arnold is what a lot of us have been waiting for,'' said founder Lissa Morgenthaler-Jones.

In a countermeasure, Texas radio host show host Alex Jones has launched www.arnoldexposed.com.

``This is a campaign, and his operatives are pushing it,'' Jones said. ``It deserves to be countered.''

Voters across the nation, in interviews, either embraced the idea or said they viewed it more as a scary political cartoon.

``Arnie rocks,'' said Sid McNicol of Indianapolis, a Democrat who said he would like to see a Schwarzenegger presidency.

``You've got to be kidding,'' said Kim Trogdon, a conservative Republican school teacher in Centerville, Va., who questioned the socially moderate Schwarzenegger's stances.

Hundreds of others were informally polled by Internet giant America Online under the headline ``The Next Ronald Reagan?''

Comments from Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay Area ranged from ``Never!'', ``I'm moving to Canada,'' and ``Have we lost our marbles?'' to ``He's in nobody's pockets,'' ``The Constitution needs an overhaul'' and ``Why not Arnold?''

Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah; Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-Huntington Beach; and Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich., proposed the amendment to the Constitution to allow immigrants to become president after being citizens for 20 years. Schwarzenegger, 57, became a citizen in 1983.

Amending the Constitution would require two-thirds majority votes in the House and Senate, then approval by three-fourths of the states.

Steve Geissinger, [phone]

sgeissinger(at)angnewspapers.com