Los Angeles ? As Democrats staged their own dramatic show of party unity Saturday, Arnold Schwarzenegger called on Republicans to unite behind him for governor.

Gov. Gray Davis and Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante appeared together for the first time since Bustamante broke his pledge and entered the race to succeed Davis if he is recalled.

The surprise joint appearance came as the state Democratic Party voted, as expected, to endorse Bustamante’s “No on recall, yes on Bustamante” strategy for the Oct. 7 recall election.

The issues of whether Davis should be recalled, and who should replace him if he is, are separate ballot questions.

“I am not in competition with Gray Davis. I’m running against Arnold and Tom,” Bustamante said in his speech to delegates, referring to Schwarzenegger and the other top Republican challenger, state Sen. Tom McClintock. “I believe that my name would be a positive option for Democrats on the second part of the ballot, and I thank you for embracing that option.”

Schwarzenegger, meanwhile, addressed a state Republican Party convention crowd divided over whether to back the socially moderate actor or support the more conservative McClintock, who is in line with the party faithful on issues such as abortion and guns but is widely viewed as unlikely to beat Bustamante.

Schwarzenegger sought to reassure party activists that he is one of them. He repeatedly described himself as a conservative, proclaimed, “I love the Republican Party” and invoked the state’s most beloved GOP figure.

“In 1964, Ronald Reagan gave a speech called ‘A Time for Choosing.’ That is what we face here today,” the action star told the crowd of more than 500 at a hotel near Los Angeles International Airport.

“We as Republicans have a choice to make: Are we going to be united or are we going to be divided? Are we going to win in unity with our common fiscal conservative principles or let the liberals win because we are split? Are we going to fight Davis and Bustamante or are we going to fight among ourselves? I say, let us unite for victory.”

The speech did not mention McClintock.

The lawmaker has shown no sign of dropping out. “I’m in this race to the finish line,” he said at a pro-recall rally Saturday in Long Beach.

“I think if Schwarzenegger’s campaign spent a fraction of the time studying the issues that they have been trying to muscle me out of the race, they’d be in much better shape today,” McClintock said.