...but he is also beholden to very conservative movers and shakers.

He can't raise taxes without looking weak. He has to come up with a creative budget solution. (Perhaps a hollywood solution like CA investing & creating better films and reaping revenues from profits)

Make no mistake, he is in bed with the Democrats - but the Shriver/Kennedy clan put power over politics and smothered Gray Davis and the California local Democrats without blinking. When Arnold thanked them he was not underestimating their role in sabotaging the normal Dem machinery.

Yes, he may live like a Democrat, sleep with a Democrat - but underneath it lies a self-pride based on his own personal accomplishments - and it is this personal pride that falls in with the Republican philosophy of pull yourself up by your own bootstraps.

So at his core, he is a businessman's conservative - wrapped up in a democrat's self-indulgent cloak and surrounded by many democrats.

Watch this prediction - he will be far better than Davis and will fix the budget deficit without enacting new taxes. He will be the darling love of the media - who will embrace his image and the California Camelot nonsense to sell magazines and tabloids by the millions. This will serve to help him focus on his plans without being a media target.

Unless...the groping claims make bigger money and make juicier stories. But this is very unlikely - given the power of the Shriver/Kennedy clan to influence a LOT of media bigwigs and conduct their own internal power struggles behind the scenes at the corporate level where the media scum get their marching orders. Making fun of Maria's anorexia was a tactical mistake. The folks in Hollywood who owe Schwarzenegger a favor and will hope for future favors now that he is the Governor of the State of California will also be working for his success.

All in all he is MUCH better situated to bring about a CA recovery than his predecessor who was selling out the state to everyone he felt might keep him in office.

SDAI-Tech1