Schwarzenegger Announces : Running for CA Gov.

For many days, aides have portrayed California Governor-elect Arnold Schwarzenegger as hard at work in meetings on his new administration which takes office on Monday.

It turns out that the actor and his wife Maria Shriver have been vacationing in Hawaii with their four children, a person close to the family told Reuters. "They took the children off to Hawaii," he said on Wednesday, adding that the couple's kids missed some school as a result of the pre-inaugural travels.

In communications to the media, his transition office has sought to project the image of a man hard at work. "He will hold private transition meetings and discussions with members of his transition team," his office has said in a routine statement put out daily in recent days. From the capital in Sacramento, his office has also announced a series of announcements.

But they are declining to talk about Hawaii.

"We are not going to discuss his private time and what he chooses to do in his private time," spokeswoman Karen Hanretty said. "On a daily basis he continues to work on establishing a new administration, regardless of where he is."

The source who knew of the Hawaii trip joked: "Maybe he has no roaming charges on his cell phone."

Schwarzenegger's Shift to Center Boosts Re-election Bid

Tue Oct 3, 9:15 PM ET

California Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger entered his second campaign for governor this year with sagging approval ratings and uncertain prospects. But a sharp rebound, especially since the June 6 primary, has enabled Schwarzenegger to put a little distance between himself and his Democratic challenger, state Treasurer Phil Angelides ?- just in time for the final sprint toward Election Day. [..]

Political analysts say Schwarzenegger, who took a mainly conservative approach during his first two years as governor, has largely succeeded at recasting himself as a centrist by embracing issues ?- such as battling climate change and increasing the minimum wage ?- designed to reingratiate him with liberal and moderate voters.

Recent independent statewide polls showed the Republican incumbent with leads of double-digit percentages over Angelides, who narrowly prevailed in a tough and expensive June primary battle with state Controller Steve Wesley and has not fully regained his footing since. [..]

Neither Schwarzenegger nor Republican strategists could have been confident of such numbers entering the campaign. Schwarzenegger had taken a mainly confrontational approach toward the Democratic majorities in both state legislative chambers after he became governor, tilting with them over a number of fiscal issues. It was a provocative strategy, given a strong Democratic trend in state politics that has included party victories in each of the past four presidential contests.

The political risks involved in that approach culminated less than a year ago, in November 2005, when a slate of proposed ballot initiatives for which he strongly advocated ?- over the strong dissent of Democratic officials and organized labor ?- failed badly at the polls.

Yet Schwarzenegger pivoted quickly and skillfully to rebuild bridges to independent and Democratic voters. He hired a Democrat, Susan Kennedy, as his chief of staff, worked with Democratic legislators on some of their infrastructure and education funding priorities, and went through a state budget process that was less contentious than in previous years.

And of late, he has turned his attentions to gaining the upper hand on a traditionally Democratic issue that resonates with many Californians: the environment.

Schwarzenegger made national headlines late last month when he signed a wide-ranging global warming bill that included the nation's first cap in greenhouse gas emissions ?- one of several high-profile bill-signing ceremonies the governor has held in recent weeks to trumpet his support for popular legislative measures.

Democrats hope, nonetheless, that the left-leaning tendencies of state voters ultimately will kick in to Angelides' advantage. [..]

The California Democratic Party has been running ads linking Schwarzenegger to Bush. One shows clips of Schwarzenegger campaigning in Ohio for Bush's re-election in 2004.

But [..] the L.A. Times poll found that the incumbent governor's supporters were more committed to him than the challenger's: 77 percent of of Schwarzenegger supporters said they would "definitely" vote for him, compared to 65 percent of respondents who planned to vote for Angelides.

Cain said that Angelides took a rough beating in primary ?- "It was a fairly bitter competition, and I don't think the wounds from that have healed completely." ?- while Schwarzenegger faced no serious primary opposition.

That disparity also contributed to a big advantage in campaign cash resources for the governor coming out of the primary: As of June 30, Schwarzenegger had $4.1 million in cash on hand, more than five times as much as the $726,000 reported for Angelides, according to Around the Capitol, a Web site that tracks California politics and elections.

The two candidates are slated to face off in person Oct. 7 during a live televised debate, in which Schwarzenegger's acting career likely will help him come off as the more polished candidate.

But experts say it is Schwarzenegger's recent record ?- rather than his persona ?- that accounts for the lion's share of the political resurgence he has seen over the past several months.

"It's not just about the fact that he's this bigger-than-life movie star," said Eric Smith, a UC-Santa Barbara political science professor. "It's about the fact that he's doing things that voters like."