Whirlwind Finish for Governor

After a year of sporadically threatening to “terminate” Democratic legislators who did not go along with him, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger concluded the campaign season Monday with an uphill dash throughout California in which he asked voters to remake the Legislature more in his image.

From San Diego to Monterey, Schwarzenegger showed up for brief appearances with five Republican legislative candidates and one vulnerable GOP incumbent, sometimes rallying campaign workers and other times grabbing a phone to call voters on his own before heading back to his jet for the next stop.

The ambition of his electioneering was evident as Schwarzenegger interspersed his appeals for candidates with a laundry list of advice on many of the 16 measures on today’s ballot, often referring to them only by their official numbers.

“I’m excited because I have some really good candidates, I’m supporting some really good initiatives and at the same time I’m trying to get rid of some of the initiatives, make them lose, terminate them,” Schwarzenegger said outside the campaign headquarters of Stockton Mayor Gary Podesto, who is hoping to unseat Democratic state Sen. Mike Machado of Linden.

Analysts agree that all this would be a heavy lift for Schwarzenegger, who has yet to show that his popularity can be transferred to other candidates, or to ballot measures that are not closely identified with him.

Though Schwarzenegger has helped raise money for some Republicans, Democrats are confident that they will not lose much, if any, ground in the Legislature, where they control the Senate, 25 to 14, and the Assembly, 48 to 32. A number of GOP strategists privately agree.

“The reality is that in California, particularly the last 30 or so years, governors have demonstrated they’ve had very short coattails,” said Tim Hodson, director of the Center for California Studies at Cal State Sacramento. “Pete Wilson tried to rally support for Republican candidates in primaries and lost almost every one he endorsed. George Deukmejian would go out and do the same. Even Ronald Reagan did not have long coattails.”

The governor has come out against eight propositions. He has endorsed six others on subjects as diverse as overhauling the state’s primary election systems and turning California into an incubator for stem cell research with $3 billion in public borrowing. Schwarzenegger showcased his election priority on the jacket he wore Monday. It was emblazoned “No on Prop 70” -- an admonition to vote against the measure that would allow Indian casinos to expand.

Dick Rosengarten, publisher of California Political Week, a Los Angeles political newsletter, said Schwarzenegger’s campaign focused most of his effort toward the defeat of two gambling measures (Propositions 68 and 70) and a proposition that would change California’s “three-strikes” law (Proposition 66).

“On the other stuff, it’s been half-baked,” Rosengarten said of Schwarzenegger’s efforts. “Yeah, he’s for stem cell, he’s for open primary, but other than the two Indian things and the three strikes, he really hasn’t put his money behind anything.”

Schwarzenegger was playful throughout the day. In San Diego, the governor stopped by Megan’s Cafe to boost the reelection chances of Assemblywoman Shirley Horton (R-Chula Vista).

“Where are the eggs so we can have some protein?” he mock-scolded the cook as he joked with patrons who had waited two hours for his arrival. Schwarzenegger spoke German with one patron, signed autographs and patted schoolchildren on their heads.

He poured coffee for patrons at his first stop of the day, Edie’s Diner in Marina del Rey, where Greg Hill, the Republican mayor of Redondo Beach, is trying to win an open Assembly seat.

As customers ate pancakes and eggs, Schwarzenegger worked the room, handing out his personal voter guide and trading jokes with customers. “You’re not a morning person either, hey?” the governor quipped with one as he moved from table to table.

Schwarzenegger condemned propositions mandating employers to provide health insurance and to change the state’s three-strikes law. “This is the wrong way to go,” he said of the latter. “We cannot let those criminals out of prison.”

Although all of the patrons were appreciative of the governor’s appearance, not all agreed with his politics.

Mark Unpingco, a 21-year-old Loyola Marymount student at Edie’s Diner, said he disagreed with the governor on some issues and wasn’t swayed by his charm. “He’s a really great guy, but it’s my choice,” he said. “I did my own research.”

At a noontime appearance in Fresno, campaigning for Assembly candidate Paul Betancourt, the governor criticized the backers of Proposition 72, who have been attacking Wal-Mart to argue that California needs to require businesses with 50 or more employees to provide health insurance.

“To have an initiative out there that is against one store, imagine how crazy that is. We want to get as much business into California as possible,” he said. “There are still too many people here without a job.”

Schwarzenegger rounded out his day by campaigning in Monterey with Assemblyman Abel Maldonado (R-Santa Maria), who is running for the state Senate, and in Goleta, where he advocated for Assembly candidate Bob Pohl.

At that last stop, Schwarzenegger was greeted by protesters from nearby UC Santa Barbara who were supporters of Pohl’s Democratic opponent, Pedro Nava. They said they also were upset about state budget cuts that increased school fees and decreased student aid, and which Schwarzenegger and the Legislature enacted this year.

The governor dismissed his challengers, telling his supporters to quiet down briefly. “You hear them out there,” he said. “Those are the special interests.”

The governor’s attacks on propositions put some of their advocates on the defensive. “We’re just responding to the dishonest fear tactics with facts,” said Yes on 66 spokesman Sandy Harrison. “The fact is no one is just released [under the three-strikes proposition]. The fact is those doing life sentences for nonviolent crimes can ask to be resentenced. We think voters want to change the law to acknowledge shoplifting is not as heinous a crime as murder or rape.”

Dr. Richard Corlin, a Santa Monica doctor who is a lead supporter of the health insurance measure (Proposition 72), said Schwarzenegger “has chosen on this issue to side with the business community, which is taking the shorter view of it.”

“For 65 years in this country,” he said, “employer-paid health insurance has been the majority mode by which most people under 65 get their health insurance. This is simply extending health insurance to more workers.”

Jamie Fisfis, a spokesman for the Yes on Proposition 70 campaign, said Schwarzenegger’s aggressive drive against the gambling measure was undermining his future negotiating ability.

“The whole reason we’re talking about 70 is because the governor promised everyone when he ran for election that he was going to negotiate revenue-sharing from tribes, even though they have existing compacts,” Fisfis said. “Forty-eight out of 53 gaming tribes don’t have long-term compacts, and he’s managed to alienate nearly all of them.

“In politics, you have to work with the people who were your enemies before election day. He’s really sacrificed those relationships in order to achieve a short-term victory.”

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Times staff writers Mark Arax, Steve Chawkins, Megan Garvey, Hugo Martin, Joe Mathews, Jean Pasco, Tony Perry, Wendy Thermos and Nancy Vogel contributed to this report.