If every cheap-shot print hack who teed off on Arnold Schwarzenegger when he ran for Governor of California in the Gray Davis recall vote had the guts to track his performance since election and write an update, he'd be positively drowning in good press.

As it is, he's not doing too bad with the media. In this L.A. Daily News editorial, he's praised at length, and dubbed 'Gov. Reformator.' And he's faring well with California voters, who give him a 61 percent approval rating, after a busy few months (only 22 percent disapproved of his performance).

As columnist Lou Cannon notes in the LA Times, Schwarzenegger has spearheaded voter passage of a debt-financing initiative; another ballot measure enacting a modest state spending cap; and recently - by threatening another voter initiative - maneuvered lawmakers into passing a long-avoided worker's comp reform bill.

Uber-liberal media critics who wasted barrels of ink carping that candidate Scharwzenegger was an empty suit now might want to hop on the cluetrain, with a hand from one of The Golden State's top DEMOCRATIC politicians.

'Arnold's a superstar,' says John Burton, the skilled and combative Democratic Senate leader.... Schwarzenegger's stardom goes beyond celebrity, says Burton, a liberal politician from San Francisco with a profane manner and a progressive record. The Senate leader...believes he can negotiate with him on difficult issues, as he did as an assemblyman with Gov. Reagan. 'Arnold's not afraid to get his hands dirty and become engaged,' says Burton. 'He's comfortable in his own skin, and he knows the problems aren't just going to go away.'

Some of Schwarzenegger's friends say that his determination to succeed, not his celebrity status, is the key to his accomplishments. 'Arnold's not a success because he's a celebrity,' contends Sacramento lobbyist Bob White. 'He's a celebrity because he's a success.' White, chief of staff under Gov. Pete Wilson, says that Schwarzenegger is doing in Sacramento what he has done throughout his life: setting goals, engaging people and competing in an effective way. 'He's got the best gut, political instinct of anyone I know,' White says.

UPDATE: Arnold is getting some flack from the right. Adam Sparks, an excellent conservative guest opinion columnist for The SF Chronicle (another is Jennifer Nelson), lambastes the Guv for indicating he'll cave and allow driver's licenses for illegal aliens. MORE STILL: John Fund, via Opinion Journal, with an interesting column on Arnold's advocacy of a part-time state legislature for California, instead of the current full-time deal. One source cited by Fund says such a voter initiative would certainly pass.

Posted by Matt Rosenberg at April 18, 2004 02:49 PM

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» All aboard the clue train from The Smoking Room
Seattle freelance journalist and Times columnist Matt Rosenberg (yes, a real one, not like me) has some good recent posts with lots of links and solid analysis. He notes that... [Read More]

Tracked on April 19, 2004 10:03 AM

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