Leave your feedback Share Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/governor-schwarzenegger-regains-support-in-california Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Tumblr Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Transcript Polls show that the gap between support for California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and candidate Phil Angelides is widening with more favoring the incumbent. Read the Full Transcript Notice: Transcripts are machine and human generated and lightly edited for accuracy. They may contain errors. SPENCER MICHELS, NewsHour Correspondent: Against all predictions, Arnold Schwarzenegger is back from near political death. After his approval ratings dropped to just 31 percent a year ago, he now has a double-digit lead over his Democratic opponent for governor, State Treasurer Phil Angelides.Last fall, following a resounding defeat of ballot measures Schwarzenegger had backed, including one that would have given him more control over the state budget, he took the unusual step of taking full blame for the drubbing. Later, he said the voters had taught him a lesson.GOV. ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER (R), California: The message was loud and clear: Don't come to us about every problem. Go and work with the legislators. And so this year I said, "OK, I'm going to change it a little bit. I'm going to work with the legislators," meaning with the Republicans and the Democrats. SPENCER MICHELS: At the University of California at Berkeley, political science teacher and Republican strategist Dan Schnur said he had never seen anything like it. DAN SCHNUR, Republican Consultant: He said, "I'm sorry. I made a mistake." And that's something that most politicians won't do. I have never seen a candidate or elected officeholder move so quickly and so decisively back to the political center.A year ago, he was perceived by most voters as being an archconservative, because he spent the special election talking about hacking budgets and taking on unions. Now that he's talking about building roads, and building schools, and protecting coastlines, he's a moderate again. SPENCER MICHELS: Mark DiCamillo, director of California's Field Poll, says a turnaround in popularity like this one is rare. MARK DICAMILLO, Director, Field Poll: We don't usually see that kind of volatility; usually, if it goes negative, it's very hard to bring it back. SPENCER MICHELS: In recent months, Schwarzenegger joined forces with Democratic lawmakers to pass a series of measures that his fellow Republicans mostly opposed, including a bill raising the minimum wage to eight dollars an hour in two years, highest in the nation. GOV. ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER: Let us do what is best for the people of California, not what is best for my party or what is best for his party, but what is the best for the people of California. SPENCER MICHELS: The governor pleased Democrats and environmentalists in early September by supporting a bill to curb greenhouse gases, rolling back legal emission amounts to the 1990 levels in order to lessen global warming. His position put him at odds with the Bush administration. GOV. ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER: We are declared that the debate is over, and the science is in, and it's now time for action.