California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger betrayed some confusion over his exact campaign strategy late last week, displaying just how hard it is to model oneself as a high-minded bipartisan in the midst of a tight reelection race.

In an interview with CNN’s John King Friday evening Schwarzenegger voiced his disapproval of the current culture of political militancy: “Every single time you open up the papers it's about the fight, about the partisanship… What is that? … People are upset about it and so I don't blame them for it and I think this is why I don't fall into this trap.”

Simultaneously on the West Coast, the Schwarzenegger campaign released its first television ad attacking Democratic opponent Phil Angelides, saying he wants to “take California backwards” with his proposed tax-hike policy.

The day before, the Governor got himself a bit twisted up over a statement that he might endorse a Democratic candidate in a statewide race. When a reporter asked him at a campaign event Thursday if he might back a Democrat in the spirit of that magnanimous bipartisanship that he so industriously espouses, Schwarzenegger replied, “If I like someone, absolutely… Let’s see. But right now, I'm just thinking about moving the state forward.”

Woops… a mini-conniption in the conservative blogosphere predictably ensued and Schwarzenegger, speaking to reporters at a later campaign stop, haltingly revised himself: “No, I have no intentions, I was saying, that I'm endorsing Democrats… Someone just said, ‘Would you endorse a Democrat?’ I said … I'd have to know who it is… but that’s not my intentions, (that) I am going out now and endorsing Democrats.” Lesson of the day: it’s tough to have it both ways.