LAT: Governor's Initiatives Go It Alone
By Mark Z. Barabak, Times Staff Writer
SACRAMENTO — Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger describes the November election as a sequel to the recall that swept him into office two years ago. But to succeed, he may have to give up star billing in his own production.
Facing a steep drop in the governor's popularity and mindful of his diminished effectiveness as a political salesman, strategists are designing a campaign focusing less on Schwarzenegger and more on the substance of the four ballot measures to which he has staked his name.
The swaggering jibes at "girlie men" and platitudes about "pumping up Sacramento" have been replaced by wonky, statistics-laden talk of traffic tie-ups, overburdened ports and other facilities stretched thin by California's unceasing population growth. Gone is the Terminator, replaced by the policy tutor.
The governor is not even appearing in all of the TV ads produced by his election team, an unusual omission for a political figure with Schwarzenegger's larger-than-life image — where else do they sell T-shirts of the governor at the airport? — not to mention a performer who was once one of Hollywood's most bankable stars.
It is just one of many paradoxes surrounding an election originally envisioned as a way for the governor to solidify his power in Sacramento and seal his bid for a second term — but which has since helped drag Schwarzenegger down to a perilously low standing in opinion polls....
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/politics/cal/la-me-special26sep26,0,4783318.story?coll=la-home-headlines
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