Schwarzenegger's assertions that he is oblivious to his donors don't hold up well, considering fund-raising schedules and tactics. The governor and his backers recently filed a lawsuit to overturn regulations dictating the size of contributions he can accept. Among his fund-raising activities are Hollywood- like "evenings'' with the governor, where a seat at his table costs $100,000.

Even his desire to call for a $70 million special election this year is designed to bypass fund-raising rules: He is barred from appearing in TV ads for his planned initiatives if he is running on the same ballot. But he won't be on the ballot until next year, allowing him to pull in record amounts of dough this year unless he loses his lawsuit.

If the governor is trying to turn the state around, he would be better off if he were not so dependent on the corporate interests he claims not to favor. It's disingenuous for him to slap the nurses' and teachers' unions as special interests while holding out his other hand to influential donors. That's not real reform -- that's just business as usual....


Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has vowed to come to Washington as a "collectinator" for California, but what he collected Tuesday was mostly contributions for a possible re-election campaign.

The governor squeezed in brief meetings with President Bush, White House Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove and three Cabinet members. But he spent much of his one-day visit to the nation's capital raising money from Washington lobbyists who represent drug companies, Wall Street investment firms and the entertainment industry...

"No one thought that anyone could raise more money from special interests than Gray Davis," Flanagan said. "But Schwarzenegger has done what we thought was impossible."