Governor Resisting Leap From Celebrity to Political Figure

* The original political premise for his calling the special election no longer exists. The rationale for not waiting until a regular election next year was that this was a governor so overwhelmingly popular, he should move quickly to capitalize on the unique voter appeal. Such opportunities are rare.

Well, scratch that. The popularity has plummeted.

* In the governor's new TV ad promoting his spending control initiative, he looks squarely at viewers and says: "Do you know that for every dollar the state takes in, the legislators spend one dollar-10?"

First, Schwarzenegger signed this year's budget. Second, legislators don't spend money. They appropriate it. Governors spend. There's shared blame. Ask Gray Davis.

* Mr. Celebrity still is resisting the transformation into political leader, and that's at the heart of his plunging popularity.

One former advisor to Ronald Reagan, both in Sacramento and Washington, told me that every celebrity candidate must make a transition to political leader. Once in office, he's simply forced to make too many decisions that are political and create enemies.

"How he makes that transition will determine his success," says the veteran strategist, who didn't want to risk irking the governor by being identified.

"By election time next year, Arnold's going to be viewed more as a political figure than a celebrity. I don't think he understands that, and that sooner or later he'll lose the celebrity aura. He still thinks his personality can overcome all this.

"He has wasted away his celebrity status by picking too many fights and picking the wrong fights. He's got to back off."

Schwarzenegger would much rather speak at mall rallies or in diners, performing to the wide eyes of adoring admirers and hearing their cheers, than engage in delicate negotiations with adversarial Democrats who no longer are awed.

And who can blame him? Except rolling up his sleeves in Sacramento is what he was elected to do, and did do during his first year in office.

His big victories last year -- workers' comp reform, plus voter approval of a $15-billion deficit reduction bond and a balanced-budget requirement -- were the results of bipartisan compromises in the Capitol.