California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger hit the campaign trail on John McCain's behalf Friday, praising the Arizona senator's experience while portraying Barack Obama as a weak candidate unable to build up "meat on his ideas."
"He needs to do something about those skinny legs," Schwarzenegger said at rally with McCain in Columbus, Ohio, dpa reported.
The former body builder and action movie hero said he would like to see Obama get on a programme of "bicep curls to beef up those scrawny little arms."
Schwarzenegger, who has remained popular in California by governing from the middle but angered conservative Republicans, blasted Obama for advocating socialistic policies and said he left Europe because "socialism has killed opportunities there."
The Austrian is among the few Republican superstars remaining who can get on the campaign trail to help McCain close the gap with Obama in the polls before Tuesday's election. Obama's campaign has benefited from regular appearances by former president Bill and Senator Hillary Clinton and Nobel-prize-winning former vice president Al Gore.
President George W Bush's unpopularity has forced McCain to keep him at arm's length.
Schwarzenegger has not been shy about borrowing some of his more famous lines from the cinema into politics. While battling California legislators over economic policies several years ago, he called them "economic girlie men."