The Ugly Arnold

Under the relentless attacks, Team Arnold--the political operation around the governor--seemed to evaporate this spring as quickly as his popularity ratings declined. Longtime Sacramento watchers could no longer figure out who was in charge as the governor's office fell into a political abyss. And Schwarzenegger kept digging himself in deeper, railing at public employees as "special interests"--a laughable notion--as he traveled nationwide raising corporate money for his special election.

In an act of cold desperation trying to raise sagging poll numbers, Schwarzenegger briefly jumped into bed with the anti-immigrant Minutemen. The romance lasted only one news cycle, but its deadly aftereffects are still taking their toll. Arnold's once-significant popularity among Latino voters has been obliterated.

"The governor allowed himself to become the vessel for the interests of his staff and his political consultants," says Scott Schmidt, an activist with the Log Cabin Republicans and a continuing supporter of Schwarzenegger. "His mistake has been to have the public perception that this is Pete Wilson's third term. When he got into trouble this year, first thing he did was turn to immigration. That wasn't the Arnold Schwarzenegger we knew."

Meanwhile, ugly conflicts of interest--which had occasionally bobbed to the surface--erupted into public view. The Los Angeles Times, expanding on reporting done by Slate, ran stories on the governor's cozy relationship with American Media Inc., owners of the National Enquirer and several body-building magazines. On the eve of being sworn into office, Schwarzenegger had signed a lucrative editorial-consulting contract with AMI--odd enough for a governor. But as the LA Times revealed in full detail this past summer, AMI was apparently paying out hush money to people with embarrassing or damaging stories to tell about Arnold. "We were protecting him," said a former American Media exec. The governor severed his contract with the tabloid company. But the damage had been done. Polling over the summer showed that as his popularity sank, so did support for his ballot measures.

More than one political operative close to Schwarzenegger said over the summer that the governor was ready to make a deal with the Democratic legislature to call off the November 8 balloting. There were some last-minute marathon negotiations in August with the Democratic leadership. In the end, neither side blinked. The more ideological faction of the governor's staff, urging a confrontation, prevailed. Meanwhile, the Democratic legislature, recognizing that the multimillion-dollar television onslaught against Schwarzenegger was panning out to be one of the most successful in recent history, saw little reason to bail him out with a compromise. The special election that virtually no one had asked for, and few supported, was on.

"I think some of Arnold's staff drank the Kool-Aid that he could win anything he brought directly before the voters," says Democratic consultant Carrick. "And it's wrong to think that it's just Arnold's unpopularity that is dragging down these propositions. It's their actual substance. Voters look at them and say, 'What's this got to do with anything?'"

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