Mr Schwarzenegger will be remembered more favourably, by his supporters, for his environmental initiatives.
BBC: 'Hasta la vista' for California Governor Schwarzenegger
But these days there is no such talk, as Mr Schwarzenegger's political star has faded.
BBC: 'Hasta la vista' for California Governor Schwarzenegger
Mr Schwarzenegger has already hinted at the cuts he will propose to the legislature.
Mr Schwarzenegger said he would not raise taxes - "the people of California have been punished enough".
The Democrats, exhilarated by their success, may well be tempted to give Mr Schwarzenegger the cold shoulder.
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Mr Schwarzenegger is hoping merely to roll back public pensions to the formulas in use before 1999.
By contrast the conference host - Mr Schwarzenegger - sees lack of international agreement as an opportunity.
In declaring a state of emergency, Mr Schwarzenegger has released funds to pay for the fire fighting effort.
Mr Schwarzenegger vetoed the Democrats' proposed budget this week, although he did not reject their ruse in principle.
But for the moment, at least, Mr Schwarzenegger has wrongfooted his opponents on both sides of the aisle.
Mr Schwarzenegger's supporters have appealed the decision, so, for the moment, the initiative remains on the ballot paper.
Mr Schwarzenegger frequently locked horns with his Democratic rivals in the state legislature.
BBC: 'Hasta la vista' for California Governor Schwarzenegger
But pundits are beginning to wonder whether the same logic that appealed to Mr Schwarzenegger might also convince him.
Many Republicans are worried that Tom McClintock, the further-right Republican candidate, will cleave crucial chunks from Mr Schwarzenegger's vote.
Against this, Mr Schwarzenegger still managed to win re-election in 2006, and he has doggedly clung to the centre.
ECONOMIST: A case of right man, right ideas, wrong time, wrong voters?
Since then, as even Mr Schwarzenegger's friends admit, the system won too often.
ECONOMIST: A case of right man, right ideas, wrong time, wrong voters?
This week, the state Senate censured Mr Davis for ridiculing Mr Schwarzenegger's accent.
He believes Mr Schwarzenegger can follow firmly in Mr Reagan's footsteps and come out ahead of the other 134 candidates.
Mr Schwarzenegger's lazy governorship could come to be seen not as the great missed opportunity, but as the spur for reform.
Faced with a similar problem, one of Mr Schwarzenegger's Republican predecessors, the now-sainted Ronald Reagan, raised taxes in his first year.
Second, Mr Schwarzenegger, even in his current bruised state, remains a much more powerful force than anything the Democrats can muster.
But these character-worries also play to the fear that Mr Schwarzenegger is a macho hulk who needs a script to answer questions.
The next governor, whether it is Mr Schwarzenegger, Mr Bustamante or Mr Davis, may have to face Californians' anger all over again.
The same fate may await another of Mr Schwarzenegger's three remaining initiatives.
Mr Schwarzenegger was hardly the only governor being inaugurated this week: last November was a bumper gubernatorial election, with races in 36 states.
ECONOMIST: Governors old and new: The second term-inator | The
And Mr Schwarzenegger is proposing a constitutional amendment to ensure that debt service on the bonds can never exceed 6% of the general fund.
At the time, Mr Schwarzenegger was the Republicans' new poster boy.
BBC: 'Hasta la vista' for California Governor Schwarzenegger
At the time they seemed like zealots who were trying to use what little power they had to obstruct Mr Schwarzenegger and the Democratic majority.
Phil Angelides, the state treasurer who is running against Mr Schwarzenegger in the November election, sniffs that the plan is all hype and phoney numbers.
Even assuming that Mr Davis can be ousted, Mr Schwarzenegger has a fight on his hands to win the second, beauty-contest, part of the ballot.
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