Governor stokes movement for foreign-born president.

Friends and admirers of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger think that it's way past time to change the Constitution and make it possible for him to run for president. They've put their money where their belief is and bankrolled a series of TV ads that call on Congress and the stales to drop the Constitutional provision prohibiting immigrants from running for president.

The timing of these ads is no accident. They were deliberately pegged to run on the firs! anniversary of Schwarzenegger's inauguration its governor.

Republicans vehemently deny that the legislation they've introduced to amend the Constitution and eliminate the foreign-born presidential ban is a stealth move toward an Arnold presidency. They say it's simply a long-over-due reform to acknowledge the vital role that immigrants have played in the nation's life.

But if the Constitutional prohibition gets a public airing, Republicans will face towering problems and intriguing possibilities. The biggest problem: to get the amendment through two-thirds of both houses of Congress and three-quarters of the states before Arnold is too old or his star power turns too dull to make a difference.

So far, the amendment hasn't made much of a stir in Congress. Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, one of the sponsors, had one hearing in early October, and though a slew of legislators and constitutional scholars backed the amendment, it is still stuck deep in the Judiciary Committee. No hearings have yet been scheduled for a bill proposed by Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-Calif.

Though Schwarzenegger has made no secret that he wants a shot at the presidency, he seems to have distanced himself from the campaign. That's wise. It would sink fast if it were seen as solely a referendum on his bid for the White House.

Then again, maybe it's not a bad thing that it is a referendum of sorts. While Arnold's star power helped vault him to the top of the heap in state politics, he's also shown to be a politician who can work with Democrats to initiate major reforms, pass legislation and rally public opinion to approve or torpedo initiatives.

Schwarzenegger's ability to be an impact player nationally was plainly evident during the presidential campaign when Bush implored him to make an 11th-hour appearance to rally the troops in Ohio. There, he was embraced by crowds as much for his political appeal as his celebrity.

If Schwarzenegger were eligible to run for president, he would have to run not as the Terminator, but on the merits of his record as governor--as well as his grasp of such crucial public policy issues as education reform, Social Security, Medicare, tax reform, terrorism, nuclear proliferation and military preparedness. Many evangelicals would call him on the carpet for his support of stem cell research funding and grill him on gay marriage, although Arnold is seen as a citizen-politician and more likely to get a hearing even from them.

Even if Schwarzenegger weren't the centerpiece in the debate, the foreign-born ban is well past its time. Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm (Canada), Labor Secretary Elaine Chao (Taiwan), former Housing and Urban Development secretary and Senator-elect Mel Martinez (Cuba), former secretaries of State Henry Kissinger (Germany) and Madeline Albright (Czechoslovakia) are all foreign born. Yet no one questions their loyalty or suggests that they are "Manchurian"-type plants who would compromise America's interests.

No one even seems, to mind that they speak with an accent. In Arnold's case, judging from the flattering mimics, it probably boosted his popularity. Also, millions of naturalized citizens pay taxes, serve on juries and in the military, and hold top positions in corporate and business life.

In the past decade, the debate over immigration has inflamed public anger and passions and that debate is far from over. But the move to dump the outdated ban on foreign-born citizens as presidential candidates will ram the thorny issue of immigration back onto America's public policy table.

Whatever the outcome, we can thank Schwarzenegger for helping to force more Americans to see immigrants not as liabilities but as assets to America.

Earl Ofari Hutchinson is the author of "The Crisis in Black and Black" (Middle Passage Press). He is publisher of The Hutchinson Report Newsletter, an on-line public issues newsletter.