An expert said voters think the governor and lawmakers aren't doing their job.

An expert said voters think the governor and lawmakers aren't doing their job.
KNIGHT RIDDER NEWSPAPERS
SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's broad defeat Tuesday leaves him weakened in his dealings with the Democrat-controlled Legislature and could harm his chances of re-election in 2006.
With all four measures he pushed having failed, the governor will have difficulty laying any claim to victory in an election that he called, despite widespread indications that voters did not want it.
Far from this being the "year of reform" the governor wanted, it appears instead to have been a year of rebuke.
The governor's once-soaring approval ratings sunk in the face of attacks by unions and their Democratic allies. As he pressed the special election, Democrats and independents deserted him, which will make it difficult for him to put together a winning coalition for re-election.
"The loss of the initiatives complicates his bargaining power with the Legislature and he has to keep his eye focused on his own re-election campaign, which has been greatly compromised by his own low approval ratings," said GOP consultant Kevin Spillane.
Disgruntled electorate
With more than $260 million raised and probably nothing accomplished, the election results underscore voters' dismal feelings about how badly government is doing its job.
"One of the reasons voters didn't want to have this election is they thought the Legislature and the governor failed at their job and are just sloughing it off on voters," said Mark DiCamillo, director of Field Research.
He said the results were ironic, given that lawmakers accomplished little this year because they were polarized by the special election.
"If the voters turn him down, it really defines the whole year," DiCamillo said. "It's really a wasted year in policy."
A voter from San Jose seemed to encapsulate the mood of much of the state.
Avoiding the subject
The governor did not directly concede his losses Tuesday night. Instead, he sought to change the subject, talking about his desire to work with Democrats in the Legislature and an upcoming visit to China.
But the results are unlikely to fade quickly from voters' minds or from those of his political foes, who are, if anything, emboldened by his losses.
"The governor needs to apologize for wasting taxpayers' money," said California Teachers Association President Barbara Kerr, who had as much to do as anyone with delivering the governor his defeat.
The centerpiece of his reform agenda -- Proposition 76 -- went down handily. The governor said he needed the spending limit and extraordinary budget powers to push past the partisan gridlock in Sacramento.