There are a lot of things I would trust Arnold Schwarzenegger to do, and do well. I would trust him to snap a pencil in half with his thumb. I would trust him to snap a third-grader in half with his thumb. And for some reason, I would trust him to catch a bullet with his teeth, because something tells me he’s awesomely coordinated like that. I would not, however, trust him in the finer points of contract negotiations, anything involving money or numbers in general, and anything getting a ton of press. But Arnold is a little slicker than I thought – not only is he trying to mediate the dispute between the Writer’s Guild and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, but he’s trying to do it quietly behind the scenes. He’s a better politician than I thought.

In talks unbeknown to even his top aides, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has spoken to representatives on both sides in this week’s Writers Guild of America strike against the studios and networks. Schwarzenegger, whose lengthy, successful career in the film business before coming into office in 2003 gives him a certain cachet in the matter, has been speaking with WGA members as well as studio execs heading the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers.

In addition to his own words of advice, the governor has had staff members reach out to both sides, as well as to the federal mediator trying to get them to hammer out a deal about future residuals and other issues. “We’re interested in helping both sides resolve this issue any way we can,” says a member of Schwarzenegger’s team. With the federal mediator involved, there is not much sway the governor has over actual negotiations, however.

[From Politico.com]

Arnold actually makes a lot of sense as a negotiator, in terms of his history. I wouldn’t exactly call him a skilled politician, but once in a while he’ll do something really impressive and surprise me. I wouldn’t rule him out. There really hasn’t been any good news coming out about negotiations – all we’re really hearing is that more and more people are joining the strike. The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers is being pretty quiet. Something tells me we’ll be re-watching old episodes of Seinfeld for a good chunk of 2008.