The reality is that the knee-jerk reaction by the governor's opponents to take him down is to call (Schwarzenegger) a Bush Republican.

[Enacting reform] has to be done step by step, ... All these reforms, you can make good arguments for them, but there are bigger fish to fry as far as both parties are concerned.

I think he needs to do it for two good reasons. It will invigorate the Republican base, which he sorely needs to do if he has any chance to win the special election. And it sends a positive message to the donor community that he's not going to cut and run.

When he joined the campaign two years ago to oust and succeed Governor Gray Davis. ''He used to be a celebrity, then he became celebrity/politician Schwarzenegger. And now, he's more politician.

If it [constitutional amendment] passes, yeah, it will go into court in two seconds.

He needs to talk about the relevance of what he's doing with the political system.

There are surprises that occur, and it would depend on how the case is presented before the court.

The donors the governor needs are in the business community. For them, the re-election announcement is an investment and a guarantee — an insurance of some sort that he is going to stay around and work for them.

We could have a governor who is empowered and chastened at the same time. He'll be empowered if some of his measures pass, but chastened because he had to work hard for it and his popularity was cut in half.