Schwarzenegger faces political end

Updated on: 21 May,2009 11:11 AM IST |
Agencies |

The budget package of the former actor, who is now California governor, was rejected by the public

Ruined: Arnold Schwarzenegger

The budget package of the former actor, who is now California governor, was rejected by the public

Arnold Schwarzenegger was facing up to the ruin of his political legacy last night after a dismal defeat at the hands of the Californian electorate.

The governor's proposed package to balance the budget in the economically stricken state was resoundingly rejected, marking a new low for the former bodybuilder and action movie hero.

Schwarzenegger (61) is facing a growing budget shortfall, currently put at $21.3 billion, and a system that he has been unable to reform since taking office six years ago. California's collapsing economy has caused the budget deficit to balloon. Personal income has shrunk for the first time since 1938 amid the recession and double-digit unemployment, dragging the tax income down.

Schwarzenegger, for whom the dream of running for the White House if a constitutional ban on foreign-born candidates could be overturned once seemed plausible, now looks set to abandon mainstream politics once he leaves office in January 2011.

"Arnold's governorship was supposed to be an action movie. Now it's a disaster movie," said John Pitney, a political scientist at Claremont McKenna College.

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