Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger says he doesn't blame voters who are angry with him given the lack of economic recovery.
At a Sacramento Press Club event Monday Schwarzenegger said he understands why most Californians believe the state will be worse off when he leaves office than when he started.
Referring to a newly released poll, Schwarzenegger told a gathering of the Sacramento Press Club that he believes the people have a right to be angry and frustrated because things aren't changing fast enough.
"People are frustrated because they lose jobs, lose money, they lose their businesses," he said. "Families are falling apart because of that. There's a lot of pain out there."
He said he hopes the voters' anger will force lawmakers on both sides of the aisle to work together to address the state's huge budget mess.
He posted the entire event on line Monday afternoon.
No one could question his career success as an actor, but when it comes to years as governor there is real reason for doubt. Especially if you take into account the new Field Poll that shows only seven percent of California voters think he will leave the state in better condition than he found it.
The poll shows he is at an all-time low when it comes to his job-approval rating. The former bodybuilder scored a wimpy 27 percent.
The Field Poll surveyed 1,232 registered voters in California from Jan. 5-17. It has a margin of sampling error of 2.9 percentage points.
His tenure as governor started with such promise in the eyes of the voters. Back in 2003, he had some of the highest job performance ratings ever given to a sitting California governor.
In the movies there would still be time for a big comeback. But the script for the former action hero doesn't that have many more scenes. To turn around the state -- not to mention Californians' opinion of him -- he'll have to stage one heck of a finale.
