Free Republic

SACRAMENTO (AP) - A key supporter of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's redistricting measure announced plans Tuesday to form an independent, nonpartisan campaign supporting Proposition 77 - largely over fears the measure will fail if tied directly to Schwarzenegger's other Republican-backed ballot initiatives. Bill Mundell, a Southern California businessman who donated more than $300,000 to help qualify the redistricting measure for the ballot, said his new group would operate separately from the governor's California Recovery Team in support of the initiative. The move comes on the same day the California Recovery Team announced that Steve Poizner, a Silicon Valley billionaire and Republican...

Has California's biggest political pitchman lost his punch? Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's folks say "no," but Democrats and unions are betting big money -- and votes -- that the onetime Hollywood he-man has turned into just another Sacramento girlie man. The issue: his ability in the next several weeks to sell voters on his "reform" package. The stakes: everything from extending teacher tenure and giving the governor increased budget clout to redrawing the state's spaghetti-like political lines. The question: Do voters still believe Arnold? According to polling by the nonpartisan Public Policy Institute of California, it's a serious issue. Surveys show...