Arnold Loves California

Arnold Wins By A Landslide.
By Adam Suter

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's re-election on Tuesday was one of the Republican’s few bright spots on Election Day. The former Hollywood star first elected three years ago in an unprecedented recall vote beat his Democratic opponent, State Treasurer Phil Angelides, by 17 points with 99.6 percent of Tuesday's vote counted, according to elections.us.reuters.com.

Schwarzenegger’s excitement over his re-election was made clear at his Beverly Hills victory celebration on Tuesday night.

"What a fantastic evening; I love doing sequels," Schwarzenegger said. "But this without any doubt is my favorite sequel."

Schwarzenegger distanced himself from President Bush in the past months, avoiding him during recent California visits and criticizing the White House on issues such as global warming, elections.us.reuters.com said.

"Schwarzenegger was successful in embracing a more moderate agenda that affected people's lives in a positive way,” former California Gov. and Schwarzenegger challenger Gray Davis told Reuters. "The Republicans in Washington tuned out that agenda and are paying the price for that tonight."

Schwarzenegger said during his celebration that his second term will be characterized by continued willingness to work with the Legislature's Democratic majority, according to SFGate.com.

"Tonight the people have given us a mandate," Schwarzenegger said. "Not a mandate for me, not a mandate for any specific party, but a mandate to move the state ahead. A mandate for leadership. A mandate for a bigger and brighter future for California."

A bipartisan $37 billion package of initiatives to rebuild highways, levees, schools and housing, a pillar of Schwarzenegger's agenda, was passed by California voters, who at the same time rejected other measures that would have raised taxes, SFGATE.com said.

“While Schwarzenegger won a clear victory, voters were choosy about the long lineup of propositions on the ballot,” political analyst Sherry Bebitch Jeffe said. “They have given Schwarzenegger a mandate. They did belie the national trend for change and I do think they sent a message to the Legislature yet again: 'We're not ready to go back to deciding policy totally through the initiative process.’”

The moderate approach proved essential in California, where 42 percent of the 15.8 million registered voters are Democrats, compared to 34 percent Republicans, according to TheStar.com.

In more than 18 months of campaigning, Angelides' disjointed team never managed to coalesce around one issue, according to the San Jose Mercury News. At times he seized on everything from a plan to raise taxes on the rich to bringing California's National Guard troops home from Iraq to attempts to link Schwarzenegger to an unpopular president.

The race was Angelides' to lose a year ago after the Republican governor's popularity collapsed along with his grand scheme to realign political power in Sacramento, and Schwarzenegger was forced to ponder the possibility that his first term might be his last, SFGate.com said. But Schwarzenegger admitted mistakes and changed course. Aided by a rolling state economy, his campaign won back Democratic and independent support by blending Reaganesque optimism with a return to the middle-ground politics that helped propel him to office amid the historic recall of Gov. Gray Davis in 2003.