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AP photo/Rich Pedroncelli |
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| FEATURE STORY |
| Arnold's dilemma |
| Voters want a governor who can unite the
state, but California’s political structure encourages polarization. Schwarzenegger is
just the latest victim.
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| BY JOHN B. JUDIS |
STANDING BEFORE A PODIUM IN THE Ronald Reagan Cabinet Room of the state
capitol, with a bust of the former president peering over his left shoulder, Gov. Arnold
Schwarzenegger announced on June 13 that he was calling a special election for November to
vote on initiatives that would give him control over spending, take redistricting out of
the Democratic controlled Legislature’s hands, and weed out incompetent public school
teachers. He brushed aside complaints that this special election would cost up to $50
million. "People ask about the cost of the election. Well, do the math: For a buck and
a quarter per citizen, you can fix a broken system and save the state billions of dollars.
Now remember, this is your money. That is a fantastic bargain!" Schwarzenegger savored each
syllable of the word "fantastic." "With the people’s help," he said, "there will be action
this year."
In November the people did act, but not how Schwarzenegger had hoped or
anticipated. The Los Angeles Times headlined the results, "No, no, no, no" as all of
Schwarzenegger’s initiatives went down to defeat. At a press conference in Sacramento two
days later, he expressed his remorse. "I learned from the movies," he said. "If one of the
movies goes in the toilet, that’s not the kind of movie you want to do." And he added, "If
I were to do another Terminator movie, I would have the Terminator travel back in
time to tell Arnold not to have a special election."
It was quite a turnaround. Just a year earlier, Schwarzenegger had an approval
rating of over 65 percent. In Washington, Sen. Orrin Hatch had been advocating a constitutional
amendment that would have allowed the Austrian-born governor to run for president. But on the
eve of the special election, he had become so unpopular that his media advisors pulled
commercials he appeared in off the air. He had become the issue—to the detriment of his own
initiatives.
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