Despite his abysmal approval ratings, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) announced today that he intends to seek a second term. Beth Fouhy has the story for the Associated Press.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger confirmed an open secret Friday, telling supporters that he’s running for re-election next year — an early announcement designed to re-energize his sagging political momentum.
“I’m going to follow through with this here. I’m not in there for three years. I originally got into this … to finish the job. I’m in there for seven years,” he told an enthusiastic crowd of about 200 invited guests. “Yes, I will run for governor.”
Michael Finnegan writes for the Los Angeles Times that this early announcement might actually be a sign of weakness rather than a sign of strength.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s plan to announce his re-election bid today reflects the gravity of his political and financial troubles as he strives to restore a battered public image in time to win approval of his November ballot measures.
Timed largely to inspire a burst of donations to his initiative campaigns, Schwarzenegger’s noon reelection launch in San Diego could help him narrow the huge financial advantage that labor unions hold as they wage a blistering ad assault against him and his election agenda, strategists say.
But like other major problems that Schwarzenegger faces, his poor financial shape is at least partly a self-inflicted injury. His campaign committees reported spending nearly $26 million in the first six months of the year, leaving his political accounts all but depleted by the end of June. The $1.2 million in cash left was entirely offset, and then some, by $3.8 million in debts.
Should Schwarzenegger’s ballot measures go down to defeat this fall, it’s going to be awfully difficult for him to be successfal next fall. Perhaps the large amounts of money currently being spent by the Democrats and unions are an investment today so they won’t have to spend quite as much in 2006.
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.