GOVERNOR PREPARES FOR FIGHT FUNDRAISING STEPPED UP TO PUSH HIS REFORM AGENDA.

Byline: David M. Drucker Sacramento Bureau

SACRAMENTO - Following weeks of setbacks and drubbings by his opponents in organized labor and the Democratic Party, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is back on the offensive, raising money and ready to carry out his threat of a special election for voters to pass his reform proposals that are stalled in the Legislature.

Expected to conclude a four-day, five-city national fundraising trip Monday in Dallas, the Republican governor is collecting millions of dollars for the campaign he plans to launch after officially announcing, within the next three weeks, that the special election will be held this fall.

``We're going to call the special election no matter what, I can guarantee you that, because I cannot think of a compromise that (legislators) can come up with that will make us happy,'' Schwarzenegger said Thursday on a Sacramento radio station.

Under political pressure from labor unions, which unleashed a barrage of negative ads that helped lower his approval ratings, Schwarzenegger earlier this year delayed his plan for a sweeping overhaul of public employee pensions.

He also wavered in his commitment to call a special election this year, saying it was possible he would submit the rest of his reform agenda to voters in June 2006 if Democrats compromised with him.

However, his constitutional amendments to limit government spending, overhaul political districts and reform tenure rules for public-school teachers are still on track to qualify for a November special election.

And political analysts say a special election appears very probable as legislative Democratic leaders remain opposed to his agenda and show little interest in compromising on most of those issues.

``I think it's very likely an election is going to be called,'' said Philip Trounstine, director of the Survey and Policy Research Institute at California State University, San Jose, and former spokesman for Democratic Gov. Gray Davis.

``The governor's people feel very confident that once Schwarzenegger engages the public, it will revive his popularity.''

The governor's chief political strategist, Mike Murphy, predicted voters will rally behind Schwarzenegger when he launches a ferocious fight for his ballot measures, even though his job approval rating had fallen to only 45 percent in a recent poll.

Murphy described the governor's campaign message as ``Reform to Rebuild'' and warned Democrats not to put themselves in peril by rejoicing in Schwarzenegger's perceived weakness among the public. Schwarzenegger has barely begun to fight, Murphy said.

``Do the Democrats sit down and say: `Guys, we scored in the first quarter, but if you notice the other guy didn't even try to shoot the ball. Do we really want to bet our entire franchise on a public campaign on Schwarzenegger versus the Legislature?'

``(If) they don't think that through because ... they're high-fiving each other, they think they're geniuses - which I'm afraid they do - then we're going to have the election and we're going to beat 'em like a drum,'' Murphy said.

Three initiatives endorsed by the Republican governor are currently having the 600,000 signed petitions needed to approve them for the ballot verified by the state's 58 counties. At least one is expected to get the official OK by June 13, the deadline for Schwarzenegger to call a Nov. 8 special election.

All other measures would have until June 30 to qualify for that contest.

The Secretary of State's office estimates a November special election will cost taxpayers up to $80 million, most of that borne by counties. Democrats want Schwarzenegger to explain how he plans to reimburse counties for the election's cost, but said they would have to see any plan before committing to support it.

Democrats remain opposed to the policies Schwarzenegger wants to put on the ballot. They believe he should cancel plans to call the contest, pull the plug on his government overhaul agenda in its entirety and focus instead on negotiating the 2005-06 state budget, which he is supposed to sign no later than June 30.

``We believe, and continue to believe, that the special election the governor is pushing is unnecessary and a waste of taxpayer dollars,'' Assembly Majority Leader Dario Frommer, D-Glendale, said. ``The governor needs to tell the people how he's going to pay for that special election if he's going to do it... And he needs to tell us soon.''

Murphy, architect of the governor's victory in the 2003 gubernatorial recall, sat down with reporters last week for an in-depth interview on Schwarzenegger's strategy for a November election. Also last week, the California Republican Party ramped up efforts to support Schwarzenegger's bid for voter approval of his overhaul agenda.

Schwarzenegger is leaning toward calling the election for Nov. 8, and Murphy - who is currently beefing up the governor's political team in preparation for a full-scale campaign - said voters can expect a flurry of activity in late June following the governor's assumed June 13 move to call the contest. Campaigning would quiet down until mid-August, when politicking would accelerate through November.

To begin raising the ``over $20 million'' needed to fund this campaign - which will have many of the trappings of a traditional run for office - Schwarzenegger on Friday embarked on a five-city fundraising tour, including three stops in Florida and events in Chicago and Dallas.

Murphy said millions of dollars will be spent on advertising and trademark Schwarzenegger events featuring the governor communicating with voters before a November election.

``We are going to get down on the ground and get somewhat militant,'' added Julie Vandermost, co-chairwoman of ``Go For it Arnold,'' a group formed by California Republicans to counter what they say is ``misinformation'' being spread about the governor's agenda by Democrats and organized labor.

``We have to combat the fact that millions of dollars are being spent to attack the governor on these issues.''

State GOP officials say they are prepared to deploy volunteers in every voting precinct in the state to go door to door getting out the vote and selling the governor's agenda, much as if he was running for office himself.

David M. Drucker, [phone]

david.drucker(at)dailybulletin.com

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