Maria Is Setting Her Own Agenda

Oprah Winfrey’s place in California history is now secure.

It was on her national TV show that the political career of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger took shape a couple of years ago. And it was on “Oprah,” just last week, that the same career appeared as though it might be cut short when Maria Shriver called her man to come on home.

Maria told Oprah she would prefer that her hubby not run for president, if he is so inclined. And it didn’t sound as if she wanted him in Sacramento much longer, either.

“I want him back home, actually,” she told Oprah, giving the daytime soaps a run for their money.

I’m guessing Arnold will now appear on “Larry King Live” to respond, but in the meantime I’ve got a question or two.

Is that it? After all this buildup, an exhausting recall and a million and one bold promises, are we looking at a one-term flash in the pan? All this talk of revolution and blowing up boxes, and just when the going gets tough, Big Boy might come running home to Hollywood?

It can’t be mere coincidence that Schwarzenegger’s reform agenda was showing signs of coming apart and his popularity ratings were dipping, even as Maria made her plea.

I’m half tempted to resort to a “girlie man” line here, except that Arnold has already worn that thing out.

Schwarzenegger’s promised “year of reform” looks like it’s becoming the “year of oops.” He pulled back a pension reform plan last week that would have stripped benefits for dead cops, a proposal that was neither his best nor his brightest. And his parole reform plan was scrapped, as well, after being called a flop.

Meanwhile, Maria was having her nationally televised therapy session with Oprah.

“I think that, while I was always raised to believe that public service is the most noble calling, it’s all-encompassing,” Shriver told the media maven.

Geez, you’d think a Kennedy would have known what to expect.

“And it’s tough if you have young children. And it’s a 24-hours-a-day, seven-days-a-week job. I want him home.”

It was blunt and direct. Not a suggestion, but a command.

I know, because I’m a married man. When my wife says, “I want you home,” it means trouble.

It means: “We have to talk.”

If they need a mediator, they might try Schwarzenegger spokeswoman Margita Thompson, who told The Times:

“He loves spending time with his family, but public service sometimes equates to personal sacrifice.”

You’re kidding.

Hard to believe that Arnold conquered the world as a body builder and box office star but might finally have met his match in Sacramento.

To Ken Khachigian, a GOP consultant, it sounds as if Maria might have finally had it with the constant pressures on the family, especially with the governor’s popularity slumping and more critics letting him have it.

“If I had to read between the lines, it sounds to me like it’s taking a toll on the kids,” Khachigian said. “You’re probably less fazed by a lousy film critique on Page 34 of The Times than by a story on the evening news about being razzed by 2,000 nurses.”

But that’s the governor’s fault, said Democratic consultant Darry Sragow, who helped promote the governor’s borrowing and budget-balancing propositions last year.

“I think he made an incredible set of miscalculations,” Sragow said.

By his accounting, Schwarzenegger launched too many fights (redistricting, merit pay for teachers, pension reform for public employees). And he began bullying common working people, referring to them as special interests while he was hypocritically smashing all of former Gov. Gray Davis’ campaign fundraising records.

It was one thing to go after greedy Indian gaming operators and the prison guards union, but Schwarzenegger didn’t stop there.

“He was taking on the most popular professions in the country after 9/11 -- firefighters,” Sragow said. “You don’t pick on firefighters, law enforcement officials, nurses and teachers. You just don’t do it. They’re very respected professions.”

Not that Sacramento doesn’t need a raft of reforms, Sragow said. But Schwarzenegger lost a key ally when state Sen. John Burton of San Francisco went off into the sunset. Instead of cultivating a new set of negotiators, Schwarzenegger alienated Democrats and threatened to take every issue directly to proposition-weary voters.

I think I speak for millions of Californians when I say that rather than have another election every six months, we’d like legislators and governors to do their jobs and leave us alone.

One thing about Arnold -- the guy’s always full of surprises. So it’s too early to count him out.

But if he’s leaning that way, I may have to crank up another run for governor.

Can you work with me, Oprah?

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Steve Lopez writes Sunday, Wednesday and Friday. Reach him at steve.lopez@latimes.com and read previous columns at latimes.com/lopez.