San Jose Mercury News

SACRAMENTO - With a new poll showing Californians growing ever-more skeptical of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and his ``Year for Reform'' agenda, thousands of demonstrators converged on the Capitol and downtown Los Angeles on Wednesday for the largest protests of the Republican governor's administration.

As activists accused Schwarzenegger of breaking his word to fully fund education, the governor fired back during a speech to business leaders by castigating lawmakers for taking a 12 percent pay raise at the same time they are complaining about cuts to social services.

The escalating rhetoric comes as hopes of avoiding a fall special election are fading and both sides are gearing up for a costly, divisive contest that could become a referendum on Schwarzenegger's leadership.

Wednesday's rallies marked the culmination of months of intense protest by a broad coalition of nurses, teachers, firefighters, police officers, students and state workers who have spent millions on television ads slamming the governor.

Under a withering Central Valley sun, demonstrators spilled down the south Capitol steps, across the lawn and onto the street with a sea of signs and banners reading ``Arnold can't be bought: Big business already owns him,'' ``Real heroes keep their promises'' and ``Students are our special interests.''

One state law enforcement official estimated the crowd at 5,000 to 10,000, while organizers said as many as 17,000 protesters were on hand. Thousands more joined the companion rally in Los Angeles, and 300 people turned out in Morgan Hill for a protest organized by the Service Employees International Union.

Speakers at the Sacramento rally, from prison guards and nurses to teachers and students, criticized Schwarzenegger for not giving schools enough money, pushing a contentions pension reform plan and trying to block new rules to put more nurses in hospitals.

Teachers from San Jose filled three buses headed for Sacramento. Among those taking part was Elva Cardenas of Lowell Elementary School, who said the state needs to do more to support teachers and boost test scores.

``We can't meet our targets if we don't have the funds,'' said Cardenas, who coordinates a program for students learning English.

The persistent attacks have taken their toll. A new survey released today by the Public Policy Institute of California finds just 40 percent of Californians -- and 45 percent of likely voters -- think the governor is doing a good job. Schwarzenegger's approval rating slipped even after he released a revised budget two weeks ago that included more money for transportation and other state programs.

Schwarzenegger sought to counter the massive rallies by touting his education reforms at a charter school in suburban Sacramento, where he was greeted by scores of adoring students. The governor told laughing students that his mother would ``whack'' him over the head with a yardstick if he didn't do his homework.

But Margaret Fortune, one of the governor's top education advisers, dismissed the rally as ``straight out of the union playbook'' and noted that the governor wants to give education $3 billion more than they got last year.

``Has the governor stood up for kids in a responsible way in terms of enhanced education funding? Absolutely,'' she said. ``Has he answered the cry of the California Teachers Association to give them every last dime of increased revenues in the state of California? No he hasn't.''

There are few indications a compromise is imminent. But the Public Policy Institute poll found sliding support -- even among Republicans -- for the governor's vow to call a special election this fall if Democrats in the Legislature don't work out a deal with him on his agenda: fixing state pensions, stripping lawmakers of the ability to draw their own political districts, imposing new spending controls on the state budget and making it more difficult for public school teachers to get tenure.

More than 60 percent of voters said the governor should wait and put the issues before voters in June 2006, and the survey found that fewer than 45 percent support his budget and redistricting initiatives. Still, the governor is expected to call the special election by the middle of next month.

Schwarzenegger's political team released its own polling Wednesday, showing majority support for the governor's measures and strong backing for a contentious proposal aimed at curbing the influence of union power in California. Schwarzenegger's top political adviser, Mike Murphy, said last week that the governor has yet to turn his full attention to the issue and that Democrats are fooling themselves if they think they have the upper hand.

Some political analysts agreed.

``As wounded as Schwarzenegger is, he's still Schwarzenegger,'' said Jack Pitney, a former Republican policy analyst and now professor of government at Claremont McKenna College. ``As we saw in the `Terminator' movies, you can burn him, crush him, smash him, and he still keeps coming back.''

Wednesday, the governor hit back at lawmakers, already the highest paid in the nation, for accepting a 12 percent pay raise approved Monday by an independent commission created by a voter-approved initiative.

``Instead of giving to people that really need more money -- like education, like health care, Healthy Families, the poor people, the blind people -- instead of giving them more money which they need, the legislators have decided that they need the money first,'' Schwarzenegger told hundreds of business leaders.

A spokesman for Democratic Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez dismissed the governor's criticisms.

``If we don't pay legislators a decent salary, the result is only the rich and famous will run for office,'' said Vince Duffy, Núñez's press secretary. ``The last thing we need is a room full of rich, famous and out-of-touch people like Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jesse Ventura making our laws.''