Colley-vorn-ya!

www.JoinArnold.com — the Schwarzenegger campaign’s official website – was formally launched on Friday.

So says the press release on the website itself.

The site was surprisingly long in coming, given that Ahh-nuld already had the URL from his Prop 49 after-school initiative last year.  "Prior to today’s formal launch, more than 15 million people have visited JoinArnold.com."   

That's probably only slightly behind the number of hits on those websites that are hosting the full-frontal nude body-builder shot of Mr. S. from back in the 1970s.  (No, I'm not going to link them, but you can find them yourself without much trouble.)

Ahh-nuld's entry into the race was the inspiration for my very first political blogposting when I started up BeldarBlog three weeks ago.  (Has it only been that long?)  I'll miss the inspirational "demand more than just showing up" graphic that adorned the site when it was under construction.

The new site looks pretty slick.  I admit to some giggling when watching the linked TV commercial from the homepage:   the musical score is sort of like what I remember from Reagan's famous "Morning in America" ads, but with Ahh-nuld's heavy Teutonic accent, you expect it to be a little more Wagner-like and a little less John Williams-like. 

The one thing that struck me as odd on a quick tour of the site, though, is how little Maria shows up.  Maybe they're trying to keep her as the "anti-Hillary," out-of-sight, so as to avoid offending Republicans who are reminded every time they see her of her Kennedy-clan status. 

But I think that's a mistake — the ones who are likely to be turned off by that are aware of it anyway.  Making her more prominent would help combat the tabloid-trash that's floating up, plus possibly attract some cross-over Dem voters who see Maria's presence as a reassurance that Ahh-nuld's a RINO.

If I were running the campaign, I'd have a big picture of the two of them, looking gorgeous — maybe running together on the beach or through the redwoods or something else obviously Colley-vorn-yan — and then feature Maria's "no-Viagra-within-50-miles"  quote in a headline font right below it.

By the way — am I the only blogger who always cuts-and-pastes his surname, rather than trying to spell it?  I think probably not!