Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger says President-elect Barack Obama will be great for the country, but that he's not going to serve with him, at least not right away.

The Republican governor congratulated Obama, a Democrat, for his historic win and urged Americans of all political stripes to get behind him Wednesday.

Schwarzenegger says California will do everything it can to help the new administration.

But he dashed any talk that he would be a part of it, at least during the early years.

He says he plans to stay in California until his term is up in 2010.

Schwarzenegger endorsed GOP nominee John McCain but had said either man would be a welcome change.

The governor spoke Wednesday in Los Angeles during a news conference for Proposition 11.

Voters were about evenly split on the redistricting measure, with 95 percent of precincts reporting.