Where would Californian Republicans be without wishful thinking?

This Human Events article is another sort of the "Arnold's got 'em where he wants 'em" type crap that's been popping up lately. You'd think Assemblyman Chuck DeVore would know better:

Foremost among his assets is his ability to focus the public on issues of his choosing. Last year’s initiative to undo California's "three strikes"” law is a case in point. The soft-on-crime liberal initiative was seen as easily passing, then, at the latest possible moment, the Governor appeared in television ads opposing the initiative and it sank like a rock, losing with the support of only 47.3 percent of the voters.

I think Chuck forgets that at the time of the last special election, Arnold was still a popular figure in California and had the coattails to drag an initiative over the finish line. For whatever reason, people still thought Arnold would be a good Governor rather than the partisan hack he became.

Now, he enjoys no popular support, and his partisanship has gotten him in Bush's boat: strong Republican backing without much crossover appeal from Democrats and Independents. And since only 1/3 of the state is registered Republican, Arnold is barely approaching the starting line with the race almost run.

Gov. Schwarzenegger counts another powerful weapon in his arsenal: his ability to raise funds. On the money front, the Governor announced his intent to invest several million dollars of his own wealth into bolstering passage of his budget, teacher tenure, and redistricting reform initiatives. Whether this also includes supporting the most heated measure on the ballot, Proposition 75, remains to be seen. Regardless, the infusion of earnest money from a Governor backing his own initiatives is sure to open up the wallets of worried or wavering supporters.

Millions of dollars on Arnold's side would be an asset - if the opposition didn't have the same amount of money in their corner. And that last part about Arnold's open pocketbook allowing others to open theirs is a little bit of wishful thinking, as they aren't going to waste their money on initiatives that look doomed to fail unless they see a marked improvement in the polls soon.

If Arnold spending millions doesn't help his numbers, why would anyone want to throw even more money down that hole?

Lastly, Gov. Schwarzenegger'’s opponents should be counted as an asset too. The Democrat-controlled Legislature's approval rating stands about 10 points lower than the Governor's -– and for good reason.

Except Arnold's opponents in the Legislature aren't the ones pushing theinitiativesitatives - and so far they haven't had to be the ones running the opposition. This is a Democrat v. Republican ballot this fall. Instead it's Arnold's unpopular ideas against common sense in California. And this time common sense seems to be winning. And there's no reason to think it will falter come election time.