Arnold's Bad Reviews
SACRAMENTO--In order to get his fellow Californians ready for the signature rains, fires, mudslides, and earthquakes that make living on the West Coast so special, "the Governator" recently proclaimed May "Disaster Preparedness Month."
But with protesters dogging his public appearances, Arnold Schwarzenegger, no stranger to bad reviews, has seen his approval ratings as governor sink to an all-time low. With his "Year of Reform" disintegrating around him, there may be no one more in need of disaster preparedness right now than Schwarzenegger himself.
Thumbs down. For the first time since he barreled into office two years ago, amid promises to clean up the state's financial mess and whip its bickering legislators into shape, more Californians disapprove of the celebrity governor's job performance than approve. In a poll released last week by the nonpartisan Public Policy Institute of California, only 40 percent of state residents said they think Schwarzenegger is doing a good job; that's down from 60 percent just three months ago. "The governor has allowed his opponents to define him," says Alan Hoffenblum, a longtime Republican strategist, "and if he doesn't get it together soon, he's going to be in big trouble."
Schwarzenegger had planned to cow the state Legislature's Democratic majority (or "girlie men," as he prefers to call them) into approving his ambitious reform plan by threatening to take his proposals, including changes in procedures for teacher tenure and congressional redistricting, directly to voters in a special election. But through a series of missteps, he has weakened his own position. In his effort to take on the state's powerful public employee unions, for instance, Schwarzenegger has often appeared to be going after teachers, nurses, police officers, and firefighters personally. He has referred to nurses protesting reductions in nurse-patient ratios as "special interests" who don't like him because "I am always kicking their butts." He has also had to step back from his promise to reform the pension system after being skewered in public by police and firefighters who argued that it would take away death and disability benefits for public safety officers.
Perhaps nothing has hurt Schwarzenegger more than the perception that he is untrustworthy. Shortly after taking office, he cut a deal with California's schools to surrender $2 billion owed them by the state, which needed the cash to avoid raising taxes. Schwarzenegger gave his word that the funds would be returned when revenues rose. They did, but the money hasn't turned up yet, and the California Teachers Association has been ripping Schwarzenegger in a series of scathing TV ads ever since. "He promised the world to us, and then, like every other politician, he broke his promise," said Rose Brisson, a parent at Bancroft Middle School in Long Beach, Calif., who was among thousands of mothers, teachers, and children who descended on the ornate state Capitol last week to holler, "Give our money back!"
Short of a compromise with the Legislature, which seems pretty unlikely, Schwarzenegger says he will press ahead with a $70 million special election in November to put his proposals to the people. "This is just a snapshot," says his press secretary, Margita Thompson, who chalks up the anti-Arnold sentiment to all those negative ads. "We'll get our message out."
One question on lots of Californians' minds is whether the Governator is going to make a sequel. When he was elected, no one doubted that he would run again in November 2006. But so far, Schwarzenegger has kept mum on the subject, even if his wife, Maria Shriver, hasn't. Not long ago, she told Oprah Winfrey that she wants her man back home. "It's one thing when your movie gets a bad review on Page 34 of the L.A. Times ," says veteran political analyst Ken Khachigian. "Having your kids see 10,000 hopping-mad nurses calling you a liar on the evening news is something else." Still, no one is counting Schwarzenegger out just yet. His most famous movie character, after all, liked to say, "I'll be back."
This story appears in the May 9, 2005 print edition of U.S. News & World Report.
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