How Many Times...

Does Governor Schwarzenegger have to say something like this before people believe him?

What do you think the biggest mistakes you made in your first term of office as governor were? DENIS MILMO, by e-mail

I never should have called a special election in 2005. All the reforms I pushed are important and I've not given up on any of them. But I went about it the wrong way. The people want the governor and legislature to work together to solve problems. They don't want to vote on every issue before us. I was impatient and my heart was certainly in the right place, but I should have been more inclusive and worked more to find the common ground. It is interesting how life works, though. Going through that made me and the legislature that much more determined to work together in the future and got some amazing things done last year for the people of our state.

Union busting is not a good idea. Giving virtually all budgetary power to the executive is not a good idea. Decreasing job security for teachers is not a good idea. And trying to get legislators to accept these ideas won't be a good idea either, nor would it work, as you'd be asking Democrats to engage in a suicide mission, against the interests of their biggest backers and the entire public of the state.

(Redistricting, if the proposal is tweaked significantly from that in 2005, is another matter, although I hope it's correct that any redistricting measure approved would not take effect until Census data from 2010 is completed.)

I also found this exchange from the Independent (UK) interview of interest:

Do you think there is too much money in American politics? Can anything be done to cut the power of special interest groups? ROD HALLORAN, Lancaster

Money is a fact of life in American politics. You cannot get your message out without money to run a campaign, buy advertising or reach voters. The important thing is that politicians should not make decisions based on this. I have an absolute rock-solid rule that I never make a decision based on who did or did not contribute.

Shorter Arnold: I can raise a lot of cash, so suck it, but trust me, none of that is reflected in any policy, just look at my health care plan! But don't look at the part where insurance companies get a forced market and a license to print money.