Aug 10

　　It has been a very good summer for California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, politically speaking. With three months to go until his re-election, the Republican governor is mounting a comeback. Just last fall he seemed imminently beatable. According to results from the latest statewide Field Poll, as of July Schwarzenegger's job approval rating had rebounded to 49%, from 36% a year ago. Most importantly, the poll showed that after trailing his Democratic opponent, State Treasurer Phil Angelides, in voter preference surveys throughout the summer and fall of 2005, the Governor now leads by 8 points, 45% to 37%. "Voters are responding to the Governor's positive and optimistic message," says his campaign communications director, Katie Levinson.

　　Republican strategists attribute the turnaround to Schwarzenegger’s return to the centrist persona that got him elected. He has made a show of distancing himself from the unpopular President Bush, including rejecting a White House request to boost the number of California National Guardsmen patrolling the border. Schwarzenegger also extended a loan to fund stem cell research in the state following a Bush veto of a federal funding bill. Additionally, he has worked with the Democratic-controlled legislature to get four bond proposals on the fall ballot intended to finance his multibillion-dollar infrastructure overhaul plan. Then there was the surprise windfall: an unexpected spike in tax revenues from the improving state economy allowed him to repay money to schools that he had borrowed to help balance the budget.