Schwarzenegger’s advice for debate: ‘Be as honest as possible’

Arnold Schwarzenegger is a movie star and a political star. As governor of California, he has been in two debates. On "Piers Morgan" tonight, the ex-"Governator" has some advice for the candidates for president as they face off in their first debate: "Be as honest as possible."

No surprise that honesty is on the A-lister's mind. He's currently promoting his autobiography, "Total Recall," which recounts his affair with a family employee that resulted in a secret son and the breakup of his marriage to Maria Shriver.

Not that he's proud of those moments—he has called that part of his life "the stupidest thing I've done in the whole relationship." While Schwarzenegger's marital advice may not pass the sniff test, his political savvy is sound. Along with noting that honesty is the best policy, he told the CNN host these debate tips.

"I think in the debates, the most important thing is to be real. I don't want to give advice. Both of them are very skilled and very smart. They maybe have political differences on how to broach the problems."

Ah-nold also suggested "terminating" a lot of "numbers and facts and statistics." "People don't remember that," he said. "You have got to be able to look right in the screen and communicate with the people, to grab the people and draw them into your world and to your concerns that they understand what needs to be done in the future and how important it is. And try to do everything you can to bring the parties together. No party, no ideology has a lock on all the problems."

On Schwarzenegger's wish list for the debate: "I want to know exactly how. How are they going to bring both of the parties together? Sit down and really have a serious discussion. And compromise rather than getting stuck in your ideological corners. That is really the most important thing. Because in Washington right now nothing is happening."

One more reason for the candidates to perform well: The ex-governor has not yet decided whom he'll vote for. He told ABC's "Good Morning America," "I always wait until the last minute because there are some very interesting debates coming up, and I think it's always nice when you see both of the candidates next to each other and they can debate the issues."