October 26, 2007

Rise of the Governor

Jill Serjeant

A few years ago, Arnold Schwarzenegger might have donned a firefighter's helmet, grabbed a hose and posed for pictures while visiting a national disaster area.

But this week the California governor seemed to cement his transition from action movie star to serious politician with his unflagging crisis management of the worst wildfires to sweep the state in 100 years.

In the four days since some 20 blazes erupted across Southern California, burning hundreds of homes and sending at least half a million people fleeing, Schwarzenegger has been everywhere.

He has mobilized state funds, deployed National Guard troops and staged up to four news conferences a day at different venues.

He has also signed autographs for displaced people, but The Terminator star has never once uttered one of his favorite Hollywood catchphrases.

"He has been more the Governor than the `Governator' and that is appropriate," said Raphael Sonnenshein, professor of political science at California State University in Fullerton.

"I think it is a reminder to people that he has a serious job and that he's not goofing around. For him, being taken seriously, especially outside California, is always pretty important."

Californians who elected the Austrian former bodybuilder governor in October 2003 and again in November 2006 have long seen Schwarzenegger, 60, more as politician than pretender - even if they do not always agree with his policies.

Even the California firefighters' union, which did not support him in the two gubernatorial races, had a good word about the Republican governor's handling of the latest crisis and improvements he has implemented in coordination, communications and rapid response since similar fires in 2003.

"He has been through two elections now so he doesn't get to be the Last Action Hero anymore," said Carroll Wills, spokesman for the 30,000-strong California Professional Firefighters union. "He knows now he can't get by on his name. He has got to get by on deliverables."

Past perceptions of Schwarzenegger, outside California and overseas, have been ambivalent - something he has exploited to grab headlines.

He called his landslide reelection in November his "favorite sequel." Last month he told Republican activists that their party was "dying at the box office" in terms of public support. Yet Schwarzenegger's hectic tours of fire-stricken areas are more than public relations stunts, according to political experts.

"He understands what a governor ought to do," said Sherry Bebitch-Jeffe, a political analyst at the University of Southern California. "His adrenalin really runs when he is out there making a difference and being an action hero, if you will.

"It's not totally cynical. It is in his genes."

Tall, tanned and built like an oak tree, Schwarzenegger exudes power and charisma without even trying.

"When Arnold goes into distressed areas, people get a twofer - the chief executive officer and the Terminator at the same time," said political analyst Allen Hoffenblum.

"That really does have an impact when people are in distress. But it would be no good if there wasn't a competency level. He is obviously rolling up his sleeves and making sure that anything than can be done is done."