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Actor Arnold Schwarzenegger, left, jokes with host Jay Leno during taping of "The Tonight Show" in Burbank, California.
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From the Wolf Blitzer Reports staff in Atlanta:
ATLANTA (CNN) -- "I can promise you that when I go to Sacramento I will pump up Sacramento. Trust me." And with that, Arnold Schwarzenegger threw his hat into the very crowded ring last night on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno.
Don't care for Austrian? How about Greek?
"It's going to be the battle of the accents. I very much look forward to debating him," said Arianna Huffington, the political columnist originally from Greece, as she declared her candidacy.
In addition to Huffington and big Arnold, there's also little Arnold.
Former child star Gary Coleman, who played Arnold Drummond in "Dif'frent Strokes," is running -- but only in protest of the recall. He now say's he's voting for Schwarzenegger.
Then there's "Hustler" publisher Larry Flynt, the self-proclaimed "smut peddler who cares."
"Just because I publish pornography does not mean that I am not concerned about the social ills that all of us are," says Flynt.
Meanwhile, state Democrats have broken ranks -- shattering what had been a united front against the recall. Lieutenant Governor Cruz Bustamante is running -- despite earlier saying he did not intend to.
And Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi is taking out papers to run, according to his press secretary.
In all, hundreds of people have taken that first step toward running for governor -- some seriously -- many less so -- and with the deadline for filing this Saturday, the list is still growing.
According to Dean Murphy of the New York Times, "There's the thinking that anything can go right now and anyone can create his own card."
