Our view: Governor's mix of bipartisanship and toughness a good script for California

If it's up to us, he will be back. Though he's had mixed success, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is the only candidate running for governor who possesses the will to take on the state's special interests and bring about real reform. Voters should re-elect him Nov. 7.

In the three years since Californians fired Gov. Gray Davis and replaced him with an action movie star, we've seen our bodybuilding governor play three different roles.

In year one, Schwarzenegger delivered on the promises he made during the raucous 2003 recall campaign. He repealed Davis' tripling of the car tax, took on workers' compensation reform and inequalities in education funding and began making inroads on the state's structural deficit. Schwarzenegger was a tough, no-nonsense fighter for the good side (think "Terminator II").

Year two, Schwarzenegger awoke a sleeping giant -- the powerful public employees unions that suck on the teats of Sacramento and the Democratic lawmakers they prop up. When his reform measures were blocked, the governor called his opponents "girlie men" and took his agenda to the people.

Unfortunately, voters bought into the union rhetoric -- lies really, especially about nonexistent "cuts to education" -- and rejected all of the reforms in a special election for which the governor continues to be apologetic. He was a box office bomb, and prospects for a comeback looked bleak (think "Last Action Hero").

This year, the governor has shown that he can play the role of a bipartisan, visionary leader. He reached across the aisle to Democratic lawmakers to pass greenhouse gas regulations and a minimum wage increase and enlisted the Legislature's help in putting an ambitious infrastructure plan on the ballot.

Schwarzenegger still maintained some of his toughness, declaring a state of emergency in California's prisons so he can force some reforms while bypassing the prison guards union and its lapdogs in the Capitol. We like this role the most -- bipartisan and uniting, though still a force to be reckoned with (think "Kindergarten Cop").

That turnaround has not only helped the governor recover politically from 2005, it's pragmatic.

There is still a massive amount of work remaining if we're to fix California's problems. The state's deficit is still increasing, and tackling its root causes will take Schwarzenegger's mix of bipartisanship and toughness. In fact, we hope that during his fourth year as governor, Schwarzenegger will exhibit more of his tough side, especially after this year's successes and without an election looming.

We have no confidence in the Democratic candidate, state treasurer Phil Angelides. His lackluster campaign for the state's highest office appears more focused on complaining about Schwarzenegger's appearance on "The Tonight Show" than offering a real agenda.

Angelides has done little to convince us he has the will to take on California's special interests -- namely the public employee unions -- and an Angelides administration would likely lead California back down the road that led to Schwarzenegger's election in the first place. His platform to expand state services would send the state on a spending binge we can't afford, even with his proposed tax increases.

A political novice in 2003, Schwarzenegger has delivered results while learning an extraordinarily tough job with a very steep learning curve. Perhaps one of his biggest assets is his ability to use star power to draw attention to problems and then find bipartisan solutions in a political climate too often dominated by partisan rancor. He has served the state well, and we still need him in Sacramento.

On Nov. 7, California voters have an easy choice: Re-elect Arnold Schwarzenegger as governor.