Arnold speaks

Arnold now says he's taking full responsibility for the $50 million dollar special election. I think most of the voters realized he's the one to blame already, and that's reflected in his dismal poll numbers.

Schwarzenegger adds:

"If I would do another 'Terminator' movie, I would have Terminator travel back in time to tell Arnold not to have a special election." He also said his wife, Maria Shriver, had warned him not to go ahead with the election.

It wasn't just Maria that warned him. The entire state, in multiple polls, told Arnold to call things off. The Democrat-led legislature passed a bill that would have allowed him to pull the plug on this side show and get some real work done. And Arnold took political misstep after misstep to get himself to where he stands today - an unpopular and partisan governor.

Well Democrats let him up? Well, to a degree the ones in the legislature have little choice. Their approval ratings aren't any better than Arnold's, which reflects the publics desire to see something come out of Sacramento rather than partisan bickering. But legislative Democrats need to get out in front of this, presenting their agenda for helping California so that Arnold appears to give in to them rather than waiting for Arnold's next move.

*UPDATE* Well this is certainly an odd turn of events:

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has dropped the fight against one of his most vocal critics, deciding to stop battling the California Nurses Association over hospital staffing ratios.

Attorney General Bill Lockyer filed a motion late Thursday on behalf of the governor's office withdrawing the state's appeal of an earlier court ruling.

"The governor is going to stop going after registered nurses and patient ratios. For us, it is an enormous victory," nurses union executive director Rose Ann DeMoro said Friday, after the motion was made public.

Of course his big loss at the polls had a lot to do with this move, as Arnold now tries and makes friends with the group he's vilified and promised to kick the asses of. My guess is that nurses have never seen an ass kicking so good.

Politically, this is problem the wrong time to make this kind of move. Arnold's willingness to relent is a sign of his weakness in light of Tuesday's debacle. My only thought is Arnold is trying to get all his mistakes atoned for now so they don't loom as large come 2006.