Believe It or Not, Sacramento May Have Gotten the Message

Sacramento — Call me gullible, but I believe them all.

Of course, I've been fooled before.

But I believe Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger when he says, "I got the message."

"The message we got from this special election was very clear," he told a Capitol news conference, two days after the voters had delivered what \o7the old Arnold \f7might have called a butt-kicking. "The people want us to take care of the job right here in this building, and not to go to them if things don't work out.

"We just have to, instead of trying three or four times, try 10 times or 20 times.... The people [said], 'Don't come to us with all your stuff ... work it out at the Capitol.' And that's what we're going to do."

Let's hope Schwarzenegger got the message, which already had been inscribed in California history, if anyone had bothered to look. The ballot initiative was devised as a last resort for the people, a tool to counter the special interests and the political system. The public never meant it to be a tool of the governor. In recent decades, the initiative has been co-opted by special interests.

But a governor can't craft an initiative to fight the system because he can't separate himself from the system. He'll just beat himself over the head. Schwarzenegger now joins Pete Wilson and Ronald Reagan as governors who got hammered with their own initiatives.

I also believe Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata (D-Oakland) when he says: "I don't want to spend next year doing what we did this year. I'm getting too old to waste a year of my life. And I resent it, frankly.... What a dumb, stupid waste of time."

Perata, 60, says that after the Legislature convenes Jan. 4, the governor and lawmakers will have "about six months" to get things done before they're swept into the swirling swamp of election-year politicking.

"Forgive [the governor] and let's move on," the senator urges Democrats and unions.

I believe Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez (D-Los Angeles) when he also calls for cooperation. But he's mostly calling on the governor to cooperate with Democrats. He's a lot younger, 38, and angrier than Perata.

"In politics, you're only as good as your last election," the speaker told reporters, snidely referring to the weakened governor. "Before we get to the 'Kumbaya' stage, let's stop for a moment and reflect on what just happened here."