So it's come to this

ABC is reporting and Drudge is screaming that back in 1975, Arnold Schwarzenegger made some complimentary remarks about Hitler. But, hey, what's this very last line in Drudge's update?

The author of the book proposal told ABCNEWS that the quotes needed to be seen in context of Schwarzenegger's admiration of powerful men.

So this is the bottom, the last card, the Godwin's Law of California politics: the Hitler connection. And of course, the obvious racial profiling (the Aryan physique, the Austian accent) doesn't matter because Arnold is white and Republican.

I very seriously doubt that the people of California are going to judge a man by statements and actions from the Ford Administration. Whatever his past faults, nobody can deny that Schwarzenegger is a self-made man who has worked to help people and sincerly wants to save California. The worst damage these last-gasp attacks will make is to surpress the conservative vote slightly, meaning that Arnold wins by only 4 points instead of 6. The Real Clear Politics analysis stands: Schwarzenegger is (still) highly likely to be the next governor of California.

Update: Poliblog echoes my sentiment, noting that this will only affect Arnold's margin of victory.