[Well, the first audio link didn't work at the end of this posting... in the new one, you'll then need to click on the file... and it may work best with Quicktime. --JM]

That's how Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger today compared his views on the issue of immigration... and illegal immigration in particular... with those of President George W. Bush.

Schwarzenegger was on the campus of UC Davis to help celebrate the school's selection as the home of a research center focused on new and better methods of energy efficiency. While the event featured many more participants than just Schwarzenegger, it was also a perfect fit for the message he's trying hard to hammer home this week: his record on environmental issues. On Tuesday, it was a global warming summit in San Francisco. This afternoon, he headed to San Jose to-- as his press office described it-- "tout the economic benfits of his environmental policies" to a group of Silicon Valley CEOs.

But the immigration debate has been hard to miss this week, both in California and across the nation. And while the governor penned an op-ed on the subject in Monday's Wall Street Journal, the issue is a tough one... especially when it comes to threading the needle between moderates and conservatives.

Schwarzenegger told reporters today that agrees with President Bush on support for a "temporary working permit." He also said he wants those who are here without legal standing to be able to "earn their way towards a permanent residence visa, and possibly citizenship." The governor said Bush will visit California later this month on Earth Day, and that he intends to bring up the subject at that time.

The Q&A actually began with a much more full discussion of the governor's feelings on the subject, in a question I posed to him.

And we're trying something new here on this one: the full audio of my question to the governor can be heard by clicking here.