Gov. Could Still Make Comeback, Davis Says

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s political career won’t crash if the initiatives he backs on the Nov. 8 ballot are voted down, but he needs to recapture his original image as a bipartisan leader, California’s ousted ex-governor said.

“Anyone writing Arnold’s political obituary is making a mistake,” Gray Davis said Friday, speaking before a conference at the University of California’s center in Washington, D.C.

His comments were reported in Saturday’s Daily News.

Davis, a Democrat, said he believes that Republican Schwarzenegger has become more partisan but can change that image.

“Arnold is uniquely capable of doing a mea culpa and starting anew down a bipartisan path,” Davis said. “He’s very charming. People want to like him. People want to forgive him.”

Davis lost his seat in the same 2003 recall election that put Schwarzenegger into office. The former governor is now a private lawyer and a policy fellow at UCLA.

Schwarzenegger backs four measures on the special election ballot:

* Proposition 74, which would make it harder for public school teachers to get tenure.

* Proposition 75, which would require government unions to secure written permission from members each year before using their dues for political purposes.

* Proposition 76, which would give the governor a stronger hand to control state spending.

* Proposition 77, which would strip lawmakers of the power to draw their district boundaries.

“Even if all his initiatives are voted down, he still will be a formidable force in 2006” when Schwarzenegger plans to seek reelection, Davis said.

“People don’t resent you putting an initiative on the ballot, because its fate is in their hands. What they get upset about is when they have no recourse,” Davis said.