Gov. asked, and received, forgiveness

No use waiting for the victor to be crowned to assess his dazzling triumph -- or the victim to expire before conducting a post-mortem.

California’s one-sided contest for governor was decided weeks ago, based on polls and any clear-eyed glance at the race.

The dissecting is easy. A post-mortem -- especially this one -- isn’t brain surgery.

We’ve just witnessed a brilliant comeback by a governor who, only a year ago, seemed to have one foot in the political grave. Rebellious voters emphatically rejected his “reform” initiatives at a special election that wasted $54 million of tax money.

Back then, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger was viewed unfavorably by a majority of voters and trailed Treasurer Phil Angelides by six percentage points in a hypothetical election matchup, the Field Poll found. By last week, the governor had rebounded to be favorably regarded by most voters and was leading Angelides by 16 points.

How’d this come to pass?

* Start with the magic words rarely spoken by a politician: I’m sorry.

Schwarzenegger didn’t actually use those words, far as I can tell. But the words he did use, coupled with his body language, conveyed the message that he was seeking forgiveness and redemption. Americans love that -- something President Bush still doesn’t understand.

Bush seems to equate acknowledging a mistake with weakness. Schwarzenegger used his repeated admission of “a mistake” -- along with the display of an open mind -- to project inner strength. It’s a crucial difference between the president and the governor and one reason why Angelides failed to link these two Republicans as twin devils.

Admitting error was the most important thing Schwarzenegger did to resurrect himself. And he did it without hesitation.

* Paradoxically, Schwarzenegger’s special election debacle actually wound up helping him.

Think about it: His right-wing reforms got buried before he could foolishly run with them while seeking reelection. Getting smacked around by labor unions, he learned a lesson and reformed himself, becoming more centrist and conciliatory. Those unions used up a lot of money that they couldn’t spend on his opponent’s behalf this fall. And many voters got their spleen-venting out of the way.

* The Republican governor’s oft-repeated mea culpa made it easier to deal with Democratic legislators.

And deal they did. They dealt Angelides right out of the game -- undermining the Democratic candidate by negotiating a huge public-works package, passing an on-time budget, raising the minimum wage, attacking global warming and fully funding schools. The only thing left for the governor and treasurer to argue about, it seemed, was taxes.

Democratic politicians weren’t all that enamored of Angelides anyway. His despicable TV attack ad aimed at former Senate leader David Roberti during the 1994 treasurer’s race had gotten Angelides off to a horrible start with Capitol pols. He never recovered, never made real friends here.

Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez (D-Los Angeles) also had reason to privately root for Schwarzenegger so his buddy, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, could run for governor in 2010 without facing an incumbent. Nunez might then run for mayor.

But there’s much more to the Schwarzenegger-Democratic teamwork than that. It was in the politicians’ own interest to do the public’s business. The Legislature’s public rating was scraping bottom. People all over America have been hungering for bipartisan cooperation, and it might have started this year in Sacramento.

* After the special election, Schwarzenegger shook up his losing team.

Three new hires especially have played vital roles: Chief of Staff Susan Kennedy is an intense, focused career Democrat who understands her party’s politicians and has coached Schwarzenegger on how to dicker with them. Two former Bush strategists, Mathew Dowd and Steven Schmidt, have run the reelection campaign. Right off, they insisted that he drop the Hollywood hoke and perform like a governor.

* The Schwarzenegger camp defined Angelides for voters as a taxer-spender before Angelides could define himself.

It lied about his tax plan. This was a no-lose ploy. The Schwarzenegger attack dogs were trying to smoke out the Democrat to prod him into an argument on their turf. But if he never came out and fought -- and he scarcely did -- the hapless challenger would just lie there bleeding.

Angelides never could adequately explain why he wanted to raise taxes -- where the money would go and why it was so important.

But he shouldn’t have been talking about taxes anyway. Points for courage and conviction don’t go far when your cause is unpopular.

What Angelides should have said was this:

When this governor came to office, he had the clout to raise taxes temporarily to balance the budget. Instead, he chose to borrow billions from the future. I opposed that decision then and still do. But it is a decision that already has been made. With all that borrowed money, maybe we won’t need a tax increase. I hope we won’t. But it needs to play out.

* Finally, it’s like what veteran political consultant Stu Spencer told President Gerald Ford 30 years ago.

Spencer was Ford’s election strategist. One summer day, he walked into the Oval Office to present his thick playbook for the fall battle. But first he summed it up in a few blunt words: “Mr. President, as a campaigner, you’re no [bleeping] good.”

The more Ford campaigned, polling showed, the worse he fared. The president winced, laughed and agreed to hide in the Rose Garden until well after Labor Day. He still lost, but came close.

Unfortunately for Angelides, the state treasurer’s office is no Rose Garden. He had to campaign. And despite energy and enthusiasm, he wasn’t very good -- especially when matched against a celebrity performer who’s also a sitting governor.

An incumbent running for a second term hasn’t lost in 64 years, and won’t Tuesday.

And if I’m wrong, you’ll read from me the magic words that are rarely written.

*

George Skelton writes Monday and Thursday. Reach him at george.skelton@latimes.com.