ICON versus the Governator. It's a cast straight from Hollywood and a political clash possible only in California.
Icon is Mel Gibson, whose production company of the same name grossed $A450 million in the US alone from The Passion of the Christ, his controversial film based on biblical accounts of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.
The Governator is the increasingly embattled Arnold Schwarzenegger, whose approval rating as Governor of California has dropped almost 25 points from the start of this year. His political vulnerability was further emphasised by the failure of four ballot measures he supported at a special statewide election last month, only two years after he swept into office.
Gibson, who moved to Australia from New York with his family at the age of 12, is being proposed by the California Republican Assembly, the conservative arm of the party. Earlier this week it announced its intentions online with the creation of a website titled melgibsonforgovernor.com.
Republicans of every stripe have been dismayed by Schwarzenegger's tack back to the centre after a brief flirtation with the conservative wing of the party, which included a rousing, nationally televised embrace of the party's values at its 2004 national convention.
