He has built an unlikely political career on the bold premise that opponents of tax-cutting Republicanism are a bunch of limp-wristed “girlie men” and Arnold Schwarzenegger is nothing if not consistent in his line of attack.

The Governor of California has written yet another chapter in his colourful personal history by sending his leading Democratic rival a metal sculpture of a pair of bull’s testicles.

Darrell Steinberg, the President of the State Senate, is said to have received the rugby ball-sized artwork last week, as lawmakers weighed up how to cope with a budget crisis that has left California $25billion in the red.

It was accompanied by a handwritten note, suggesting that Mr Steinberg and his left-wing colleagues grow some cojones and make tough choices to cut public spending, which Mr Schwarzenegger deems necessary to stave off the imminent bankruptcy of America’s most populous state.

Sources close to both men said that the gift was a response to a similar gag by Mr Steinberg, who recently sent a package of mushrooms to the Governor’s office, after Mr Schwarzenegger had branded Democratic proposals to raise taxes “hallucinatory”.

Yet the gift was not received well. Mr Steinberg returned the sculpture to its sender with a stern note about the need to protect society’s most vulnerable from cuts in services.