Terminated: Voters Say No to Arnold's Initiatives

Poor Arnold. Should have stuck to being a barbarian.

"SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Arnold Schwarzenegger picked the fight and emerged badly bloodied.

The special election he called cost 20 percent of the California governor's popularity and $300 million in campaign spending, including $7 million of his personal fortune.

At the end of Tuesday's exercise in direct democracy, the Republican emerged battered a year before he would be up for reelection in the generally Democratic state, with all eight initiatives on his ballot soundly defeated.

"This is the most significant 'no' vote in modern political California history, and it ought to cause serious reflection by the governor," Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein said.

"The election results should send a strong message that the voters are tired of having issues that should be solved by their elected representatives placed before them on the ballot," she said.

The Austrian-born actor-turned-politician called the special election to show the Democrat-dominated state legislature that he could turn to the people and win if Sacramento did not bend to his will. He lost that bet.

Schwarzenegger's battle revolved around the budget, union dues, teacher tenure and legislative districting. Even some supporters wondered aloud whether those issues represented the most pressing problems facing the most populous U.S. state.

"This was about a bunch of garbage that nobody cared about," said Tony Quinn, co-editor of the California Target Book, which tracks state campaigns. "His problem was that he put all his prestige on the line for these measures that were arcane and in many cases poorly drafted."

- Adam Tanner, Reuters.