Defeated just months ago, more potentially on the horizon:
I have absorbed my defeat
Arnold Schwarzenegger asked Californians to move beyond a year filled with acrimony over his failed special election and devoid of significant political accomplishment.
"I have absorbed my defeat and I've learned my lesson. And the people, who always have the last word, sent a clear message -- cut the warfare, cool the rhetoric, find common ground and fix the problems together," Schwarzenegger said before a packed Assembly chamber. "To my fellow Californians, I say, 'Message received."'
The governor's speech was his third State of the State address but was widely viewed as among the most pivotal appearances of his political career. Facing re-election in November, his task was to persuade Californians to set aside any lingering bitterness over last year's election campaign and regain the bipartisan image that made him so popular his first year in office.
The vision Schwarzenegger laid out in the 23-minute speech proposed a bold program for rebuilding the state's aging freeways, bridges, schools, universities, court systems and levees. He also proposed building two new prisons and improving the state's air quality.
The governor proposed spending $222.6 billion in public works improvements over 20 years, to be paid in part by $68 billion in new general obligation bonds.
His plan would need to be approved by the Legislature and then go before voters in a series of elections between 2006 and 2014.
Schwarzenegger said his plan is necessary to keep pace with California's expanding population, which is expected to hit 46 million people by 2025. The state has not embarked on such a massive series of public works projects since the 1960s, and the governor said it faces an estimated $500 billion in so-called infrastructure needs over the next two decades.
"Our systems are at the breaking point now," he said. "But we cannot be overwhelmed by this reality. We cannot freeze in the face of this future. We cannot bury our head in the sand and say, 'If we don't build it, they won't come."'
