Schwarzenegger plays...period.

In a response to George Skelton's July 20 article "It's a Good Time for Angelides to Tune His Pitch," Arch Miller of Arcadia had the following to say:

George Skelton wrote that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger "has benefited from a
style change." A few paragraphs later, he wrote: "And which Schwarzenegger would
we get: the celebrity non-politician, the blustering bully or the positive
bipartisan?"
Skelton accurately describes and defines Schwarzenegger's governorship. For
Schwarzenegger, being governor is just another acting role (granted that this
role has real power). And he will act however he perceives he must to increase
his box-office appeal.
I could opine here about the exigent for the American voter to look beyond
the superficial and telegenic candidate, but I may as well wish that people
would stop talking on their cellphones while driving. Neither will happen.

Personally, I don't think Arnold became guv'nor just 'cuz maintaining his constituency was kinda like "his box-office appeal." As a matter of fact, I think his opponents are far more likely to use his movie days against him as he is to use 'em for himself.

In the beginning, furthermore, he was not as "infected" by politics - he had a strong opinion on political issues [that usually are the right opinions], but increased pressure from union-backed democratic [and the occasionaly republican] legislators in the senate and assembly had in the past year caused him to back down somewhat. But now he's a guv'nor, and he might have to play that nasty game of politics to stay one step or more ahead of his competitor (Angelides) because he is, after all, the lesser of two evils.

- Sentientity