[Woodruff:] California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger delivers his State of the State address later today, and already there is a rebuttal on the airwaves. State Treasurer Phil Angelides is using a political action committee to launch a TV ad campaign criticizing the governor's economic policies. As for the governor, it has been an eventful year, and 2005 promises more political fireworks. Here's CNN's Ted Rowlands.
[Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger , California:] Coming together, we are taking the state back again. It is our state.
[Ted Rowlands, Cnn Correspondent:] Loved by the people and feared by opponents, the Terminator in his first year as governor, observers say, has completely taken over California politics.
[Schwarzenegger:] The special interest just don't like me in Sacramento, because I'm always kicking their butts.
[Dan Walters, "sacramento Bee":] He sucks all the oxygen out of the air for other politicians. They're all jumping up and down, saying, "Look at me. Look at me. Look at me. I'm not irrelevant. I'm not irrelevant. I'm not irrelevant." In fact, they are irrelevant, because Arnie is the only game in town.
[Rowlands:] Since winning a recall election and taking office in November of 2003, Arnold Schwarzenegger has made headlines as much for what he has said as for what he has done.
[Unidentified Male:] So you give this fiery speech at the Republican convention. How long did it take you before you talked to each other?
[Schwarzenegger:] Well, there was no sex for 40 days.
[Rowlands:] Schwarzenegger has had first-year success like helping to overhaul the state's workers compensation laws and negotiating new deals for the state to split Native American gambling revenues.
[Schwarzenegger:] The Indian gaming drive, proposition 70, are trying to rip off California.
[Phil Matier, "san Francisco Chronicle":] He says, "I've got this plan that we can work on. If you don't do it, I'll take it to the people." So he always carries a club around. He's still the Terminator, and you're always wondering when he's going to pull out the big gun.
[Mayor Jerry Brown, Oakland, California:] Intellectually, emotionally and just image-wise, Arnold is positioned very well.
[Rowlands:] Schwarzenegger has an approval rating that's about 70 percent, which is through the roof for a state with many more Democrats than Republicans. Californians like Johann Elam, a Sacramento parking attendant and self-described moderate, says he loves Arnold's style.
[Johann Elam, Parking Attendant:] He's not afraid to tackle the big issues. So that's what I like about him.
[Rowlands:] Aides say Schwarzenegger has used his first year to get a feel for the office but has big plans for 2005, including redistricting plans that he hopes will change the makeup of a bitterly divided legislature. They also say if his opponents get in his way, he'll use ballot initiatives to go directly to voters to accomplish his goals.
[Schwarzenegger:] Every governor proposes moving boxes around to reorganize government. I don't want to move boxes around. I want to blow them up.
[Rowlands:] Schwarzenegger ran and was elected in large part to deal with the state's financial mess. There is still an $8 billion deficit. It is one of the things that critics say he must address tonight in the State of the State State of the State address Judy.
[Woodruff:] Ted, all right. We'll all be watching. Want to hear about it again tomorrow. Thanks very much. Well, John Ashcroft has been one of the most controversial members of the Bush cabinet. Will his potential successor as attorney general be just as divisive? Coming up, the fight over Alberto Gonzales. Plus, he's been in the heat of battle, but Colin Powell says he has never seen anything like what he saw today. Our coverage of the tsunami disaster continues after this break.