SACRAMENTO — Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's drive to recapture his image as a political centrist will make it harder for the two Democrats vying for his job to cast him as a conservative Republican out of step with middle-of-the-road Californians.
In a State of the State speech Thursday that framed his campaign for reelection, Schwarzenegger minimized opportunities for the Democrats -- state Treasurer Phil Angelides and Controller Steve Westly -- to draw sharp contrasts with him.
Neither Democrat could much fault Schwarzenegger's calls for vast public construction projects, a higher minimum wage, cheaper prescription drugs or a freeze in university enrollment fees -- even if they questioned the timing or details. By and large, he was pushing ideas long championed by Democrats.
The governor's new focus on matters with potentially broad appeal marks a sharp departure from his strategy last year of playing to his conservative base with an agenda that antagonized Democrats and organized labor.
By neutralizing some key issues, his political shift also heightens the likelihood of a gubernatorial race defined as much by disputes about character as by partisan divisions, analysts say. A central question is apt to be whether Schwarzenegger is motivated more by core beliefs or a quest for personal success.
"It would be very hard for someone to determine from these various positions precisely what Schwarzenegger stands for," said Thomas Hollihan, a media and politics professor at USC's Annenberg School for Communication.
In the two months since voters rejected ballot measures he described as crucial to California's future, Schwarzenegger's moderate moves have largely been a matter of emphasis, not substance.
His support for raising the minimum wage, for example, is long-standing, but he drew more attention to it Thursday by bringing it up in a high-profile speech. (He still disagrees with Democrats on how much and how fast.)
Nonetheless, Angelides and Westly have seized on Schwarzenegger's lurch toward the center to portray him as unprincipled and untrustworthy. To the extent voters are paying attention at this opening stage of the race, the Democrats' attacks are aimed at extending the political damage inflicted on Schwarzenegger last year by union television ads that hammered him for breaking a deal to restore billions of dollars in school spending.
