Just for the record... Arnold Schwarzenegger's name will not be on the November ballot for another 225 days. But his pitch for four more years takes to the airwaves today, with the very first re-election campaign TV ad.

You can view the governor's new ad here.

The governor's new campaign team discussed the ad in a conference call this afternoon with political reporters (and it was hard to miss the Texas twang of the new Schwarzenegger politicos, best known for their past campaign efforts for President Bush).

Strategist Matthew Dowd called the ad the beginning of the "narrative" they will present to voters about Schwarzenegger's record. "This is just our way to start laying the groundwork," he said. Dowd says the ad will play this week in Los Angeles, San Diego, the Bay Area, Sacramento, and Bakersfield. But he declined to disclose the actual size of the ad buy.

(By the way, the ad seems to have a Reaganesque "Morning In America" feel to it... and notice how many shots there are of a California city that is definitely not "Arnold Country"-- San Francisco)

Meantime, the governor is on the road making a similar pitch. So similar, in fact, that his stop this afternoon in Riverside-- to tout his economic accomplishments-- sounds more like a campaign event than an official state event, even though it's being staffed as the latter.

In his conference call, Dowd acknowledged the campaign hopes to highlight their economic record this week at the same time "the governor goes around the state in the various media markets."

But Schwarzenegger's state spokesperson, Margita Thompson, dismissed any notion that the governor's official event is really a campaign stop. She said this week's events will highlight the fact that "work remains to be done" on improving the state's economy, and says that various economic policies are still under discussion at the Capitol.