A bad night for Arnold

It's a final - Arnold lost. And big. In fact, the two initiatives he pushed the hardest (budget and redistricting) did the worst out of the four he championed.

So what does it all mean? Arnold is certainly not the political force he once was. His threats to end-run the legislature if they do not bow to his will become a lot more hollow and should embolden the Democrats in Sacramento to do the people's work with a little less fear.

Arnold needs to figure out how to reconnect with the people, perhaps by actually governing. And you can tell that he knows he'll have to eat a lot of crow in his message to voters at his "victory" party last night:

"We ... need more bipartisan cooperation to make it happen," Schwarzenegger said to loud cheers, "and I promise I will deliver that because Californians believe we need reform.

If Arnold follows through on this pledge, and actual progress comes from Sacramento next year, we may be talking of Governor Arnold in 2007. For now, Arnold needs to take away some humility from this debacle and quickly learn his lessons.