There’s lots of talk about Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger turning around his political fortunes in California — touting his peculiar brand of Arnold Republicanism, which seems anything but Reagan-esque or Bush-esque Republicanism.  Conservativism, mind you, doesn’t seem to be part of Arnold’s winning equation.

Which makes Schwarzenneger’s appearance on “Meet The Press” yesterday all the more intriguing, particularly when he bundled up liberal causes such as the miniumum wage, environment, prescription druges, and solar energy — SOLAR ENERGY! – into a tidy package called state leadership:

The states in the United States are not waiting anymore for the federal government to provide leadership. We are going off on our own. We are providing leadership. The Northeastern states, Pataki and all of those guys, are providing leadership in the Northeastern states. I think that you will see more and more states joining to show leadership in protecting the environment, or showing leadership in lowering the prescription drugs, or showing leadership in increasing the minimum wage. All of those kind of things—oh, and solar energy—and all those kind of things. I think that the states are providing this leadership and working together with other states and doing regional partnerships rather than waiting for the, for the United States, for the, for the federal government to do those things.

State leadership?  Sounds awfully close to states rights, a staple of conservative beliefs — even if it means solar energy.