A few snippets of political and policy stories making the rounds today, all of which seem to involve Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Mea Culpa: The highest-ranking Latino GOP lawmaker in the state has apologized to Governor Schwarzenegger for saying that his fellow Republican has let down Latinos. The comments by Sen. Abel Maldonado (R-Santa Maria) appeared in a story published yesterday by the Los Angeles Times. In it, Maldonado was quoted as saying, "When he needs Latinos, Latinos are always there for him... when Latinos need him, the answer's been no."

The comments seemingly came out of nowhere for a legislator who has always touted his relationship with Schwarzenegger, and carried bills for the governor like the proposal to increase the minimum wage. The politically moderate Maldonado, however, lost the GOP primary for controller last month, and many have wondered whether there were any hurt feelings that he wasn't endorsed by Schwarzenegger (the governor did not make any endorsements in GOP primary races).

This afternoon, Maldonado apparently had a change of heart, releasing this statement: "I apologize to Governor Schwarzenegger for my public comments to the Los Angeles Times. The Governor and I have worked together for the past three years on important issues beneficial to California's Latinos. I will continue to support the Governor in his efforts to strengthen California."

Clean Burning Fuels: Continuing his 'message of the week' strategy, Schwarzenegger traveled to the Central Valley today to promote alternative fuels. Calling California a "biomass gold mine," he released his Bioenergy Action Plan. The plan calls for a number of measures to promote everything from ethanol to landfill gases as alternatives to fossil fuels.

The governor visited a company that is working on some of these issues, one that just happens to have been started by a long-time GOP pal, former Secretary of State Bill Jones. The campaign of Democratic gubernatorial challenger Phil Angelides was quick to dismiss Schwarzenegger's event, and suggested if the governor is really concerned about the issue, he should support November's Proposition 87, which would impose a tax on oil production to help fund alternative fuel research.

Close Race?: And speaking of the Angelides vs. Schwarzenegger contest, a new poll suggests the Democrat is slightly in the lead, though the results are probably more fairly described as neck and neck. A Rasmussen Reports poll out today shows Angelides with a small 46% to 44% lead over Schwarzenegger. That's a sizeable difference from the company's April poll, which showed the incumbent governor with a 13 point advantage. But polls are, at best, a snapshot of one group of voters... and there are no doubt many more to come.