Voters on Arnold: It's 2005 Again

The governor continues to maintain his high approval ratings according to a new LAT poll. While the voters do not approve of his approach to the budget crisis, they are blaming the legislature rather than the governor for it. They still view him as the outsider shaking things up, when he has been anything but when it comes to this budget. In general, voters have a gloomy outlook on the state.

Interestingly, there are some strong parallels to what is going on now and what happened in early 2005.

Mark Baldassare, president of the Public Policy Institute of California, notes that voters remained pleased with Schwarzenegger in the weeks after he unveiled those plans -- much as they do today, following the release of his tough budget blueprint. In 2005 it was months later, after the details sank in and opponents had organized their campaign against the governor, that Schwarzenegger's approval rating sank to 37%.

"We're following the same pattern that we did in January of 2005," Baldassare said. "When he rolled out his plans, they were surprising to a lot of people and not what they wanted, but they didn't initially take it out on him. As he started getting attacked by teachers and interest groups, his numbers fell."

The parallels are so strong that his approach to the budget is perplexing. The governor seemed to learn some lessons in 2006, but appears to have regressed again. It's bizarre and it is what is fueling the this is all a ruse to drum up support for tax increases Capitol analysis.