Arnold Will Run Again

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 with the vitality that swept him into office.

"I'm going to follow through with this here. I'm not in here for three years. We're going to finish the job. I'm in here for seven years," he told an enthusiastic crowd of about 200 invited guests.

Schwarzenegger has hinted as much for weeks, saying as recently as Wednesday that he wanted to stay and fix the "broken system" of state government. Privately, advisers have urged the embattled Republican governor to declare for months, though the election isn't until November 2006, three years after he arrived in Sacramento following the historic recall of Gray Davis.

The announcement coincides with the opening day of the state Republican Party convention in Anaheim, which Schwarzenegger is scheduled to address Saturday.

Schwarzenegger, whose popularity among Democrats and independents has eroded badly, must generate enthusiasm within his party's base if several ballot initiatives he has championed are to pass in a Nov. 8 special election.

The initiatives are intended to curb the power of the Democrat-controlled Legislature and allied public employee unions.

Campaign spokesman Todd Harris said Schwarzenegger would formally kick off his campaign after the Nov. 8 election.

Strategists had said the governor had to cement his November 2006 re-election plans now to improve his fundraising for the initiatives, which would establish a state spending cap, strip lawmakers of the power to draw political boundaries and make it harder for public school teachers to get tenure. Recent polls show none receiving majority support.

The challengers already are lining up. State Treasurer Phil Angelides and Controller Steve Westly have announced they will seek the Democratic nomination. Two liberal Hollywood luminaries, director Rob Reiner and actor Warren Beatty, also have been mentioned as possible candidates.

Schwarzenegger won handily when he ran almost two years ago but, reports CBS News Correspondent Hattie Kauffman, he seems to be facing longer odds in seeking a second term.

On Thursday, Kauffman notes, he signed legislation banning the sale of soda in schools, saying, "We are going to terminate obesity in California."

But, Kauffman observes, it's trimming the fat from state budgets that has angered labor unions, from teachers, to firefighters, to nurses.

"He attacked the nurses, he attacked widow's pensions, he attacked firefighters, he attacked teachers, and the California public has said 'No' to this governor," declares Roseanne Demoro, executive director of the California Nurses Association.

But Schwarzenegger, who inherited a massive budget deficit from his predecessor, Grey Davis, says he's got no choice but to make cuts. And he's taking his budget reforms to the people in a special referendum this November, pointing out, "I made a promise to California that I will fix a broken system and I will do everything I can, and it makes no difference how many attacks they have on me."

Schwarzenegger trounced all competitors when he won the governor's seat two years ago. But a new Field Poll shows he would lose an election held today.

"In the space of two years," says San Francisco Chronicle political reporter Carla Marinucci, "Schwarzenegger has gone from a political action hero to a guy who's getting sand kicked in his face every other day."

The numbers speak for themselves, Kauffman says: In August 2004, his approval rating was a stellar 65 percent. By May of this year, it had dropped to 40 percent. And last week, in that Field Poll: a dismal 36 percent.

Still, Kauffman adds, the one-time weightlifter, who conquered Hollywood before turning to politics, says he'll once again "terminate" his opponents, insisting, "I believe follow-through is the most important thing. …When you start something, you've got to finish it."