Costly loss softens Schwarzenegger

SACRAMENTO -- Voters in California on Tuesday rebuked the reform agenda of their larger-than-life governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, in a costly election that provided further signs that the celebrity-politician may be losing his ballot box appeal in a state that once idolized him.

Unable to overcome a barrage of television ads, billboards, and criticism from unions during the bruising campaign, Schwarzenegger -- who spent $7 million of his own money promoting four measures -- is now faced with trying to regain support in his bid for reelection next year.

Voters spurned all four ballot measures Schwarzenegger had aggressively pitched as crucial to his bid to better California's government.

The Republican governor had called the special election to circumvent the Democrat-controlled Legislature, thrusting himself into a battle against some of the state's most powerful forces in a campaign that ranks among the state's most expensive. The $50 million price tag for the state to hold the election alienated some of Schwarzenegger's supporters.

Tuesday's stunning defeat will probably force him to strike a conciliatory tone with his critics. Schwarzenegger had spoken with less confrontational tones in recent weeks, a change from when he famously called legislators ''girlie men" and told nurses demonstrating against him that he would ''kick their butts."

On election night, he began reaching out, saying that the state needs more schools, more nurses, more teachers, more firefighters, and ''more bipartisan cooperation to make it all happen."

He vowed to work with the Legislature's Democrats. The first test comes today, when he meets with the Legislature's leaders from both parties before leaving for China on a trade mission.

''With all my heart, I want to do the right thing for the people of California," Schwarzenegger said to a mostly somber Beverly Hills crowd.

Art Torres, chairman of the state Democratic Party, echoed calls for the governor to apologize for pushing the special election.

Rob Stutzman, the governor's communications director, said at a news conference yesterday that the governor did not consider the election a mistake and would not apologize. He blamed Tuesday's losses on ''ferocious opponents" who demonized the governor.

Schwarzenegger's ballot initiatives sought seismic shifts in California's political landscape. The centerpiece of the package would have given the governor broader authority over the state budget, including unilateral power to cut spending during fiscal emergencies.

Another proposal would have empaneled retired judges, not politicians, to redraw districts.

Schwarzenegger also sought to increase the waiting period for public school teachers to attain tenure.

A fourth measure would have required public employee unions -- including those representing teachers, firefighters, and police -- to obtain permission from individual members before spending dues on political causes.

Angered, unions opened up their war chests, reportedly spending $120 million to defeat Schwarzenegger's initiatives. About $400 million in all was spent on the special election.

Voters, already ballot-weary, were not in a magnanimous mood, rejecting all eight measures on the ballot, most by wide margins, including dueling initiatives for prescription drug discounts and rebates. The liberal-leaning state also rejected an effort by conservatives to require parental notification before a minor can get an abortion. Another measure sought re-regulation of the electric power industry.

But the focus was clearly on the governor's four initiatives, and their resounding defeat left the governor, already sinking in polls, further battered.

Leading up to the election, polls indicated that he was widely unpopular, with a mere third of Californians approving of his job performance -- a precipitous fall from a year ago.

Emboldened by their victory, union leaders are expected to spend millions more in the coming months as part of their vow to defeat Schwarzenegger in next year's election.

''Round two starts today," said Barbara O'Connor, director of the Institute for the Study of Politics and Media at Sacramento State University. But she said it was too early to write off the governor.

''I would never discount him," she said. ''He's very bright. He's still likeable. Of course, that's little solace when you've lost."

Schwarzenegger's opponents should be mindful of not appearing to overplay their hands, even if ''they smell blood," said Darry Sragow, a Democratic strategist in Los Angeles.

''There will be a temptation on the part of Democrats to assume that the governor is mortally wounded, and that's just not true," said Sragow, who believes the governor can recover if he apologizes and ''reinvokes his let's-work-together message and starts talking about things people care about."

Bill Whalen, a former Republican speechwriter and a fellow at Stanford's Hoover Institution, faults Schwarzenegger for taking on too many issues at once.

''His first rule of order should be not to panic," Whalen said yesterday. ''While he's down in the polls, there's no Democrat that captures the public imagination.

''A year in California politics is like a lifetime," he said.