Pumped Up No More

Only a few weeks ago, California Republicans were giddy over the idea that Arnold Schwarzenegger could revive their party the way another actor turned politician, Ronald Reagan, did when he got into the Governor's race 37 years ago. But now they fear that dream is slipping away. The campaign that got off to a brilliant start on the Tonight show is becoming themeless and error prone. "They're flubbing this thing big time," says a longtime G.O.P. strategist. Former Los Angeles mayor Richard Riordan, who decided not to enter the race when Schwarzenegger got in, has urged him to be more open with the media. Even wife Maria Shriver has complained to a friend that her husband is being overmanaged and overprotected by his advisers, many of whom he inherited from unpopular former Governor Pete Wilson. Schwarzenegger is said to be working 18-hour days, boning up on issues, but little of that time is spent in public view.

Nor are the polls offering much good news for Team Schwarzenegger. Two statewide polls last week showed the actor lagging behind Lieutenant Governor Cruz Bustamante, the leading Democrat in the race to replace Governor Gray Davis, should he be ousted. And Davis seems positively resurgent. The polls also show conservative state senator Tom McClintock gaining, which is not exactly an inducement for Schwarzenegger's chief Republican rival to bow out and allow the party to unify behind the movie star. McClintock tells TIME there is "no scenario" in which he would get out and that if Schwarzenegger's campaign "spent a fraction of the time it has devoted trying to get me out of the race on proposing solutions to California's problems, it would be in much better shape." And now Schwarzenegger has something new to worry about: at the G.O.P. state convention in Los Angeles last Saturday, conservatives showed previews of a TV spot attacking the actor. In it, he slowly morphs into Governor Davis.