The new poll put Mr Schwarzenegger well ahead of his rivals, with 40% saying they planned to vote for the Hollywood star, compared with just 25% for Cruz Bustamante, the leading Democratic contender.

ECONOMIST: Total reversal | The

The actor may have oodles of media coverage, economic advice from Warren Buffett, a wife from Kennedy stock and an astute campaign team inherited from Pete Wilson, the last Republican governor of California, but the Field poll gives him 25% of the vote, five points behind Mr Davis's far-from-electrifying deputy, Cruz Bustamante.

ECONOMIST: Arnold Schwarzenegger