That, in turn, is having a knock-on effect on his campaign for Tuesday's so-called "special election". The Governor's handlers recently realised that associating Mr Schwarzenegger with the ballot initiatives was harming their prospects. So they pulled every advert they had planned in which he made a personal appearance and hastily ordered a new one, in which the Governor strikes a note of contrition for the disastrous past few months. "I've had a lot to learn," he says, "and sometimes I learned the hard way."All is not lost. Special elections are notorious for their low turnouts, and the Schwarzenegger camp is hoping that many of the Governor's detractors will stay away and allow him at least one or two victories out of the four. One ballot initiative, not sponsored by Mr Schwarzenegger, appears designed as a deliberate inducement to conservative voters, since it would require parental notification for teenagers seeking abortions.
Much like the initiatives on abortion and gay marriage that boosted the Republican vote in last year's presidential election, the idea here seems to be to get right-wing Christians to the polls, in the hope that they would then vote for the rest of Mr Schwarzenegger's agenda.But the Governor's supporters, once thick on the ground, have been noticeable this time mainly by their absence. Most glaring has been his own wife, Maria Shriver, who has offered not one public word of support. As a Democrat and a member of the Kennedy family, Ms Shriver presumably can't bring herself to endorse an open attack on the very groups her party holds most dear - teachers and healthcare workers. If her husband is defeated, it will raise questions about whether he can seek re-election in a year's time.
He has said he will run, but this appears primarily motivated by a desire to secure corporate contributions for the special election.. For years, exclusive compounds on the outskirts of Beijing have offered well-heeled executives a sanctuary from the grim realities of life in China. In the teeming capital of 14 million people, only the wealthiest of the 50,000 to 80,000 foreign residents can afford to live in Beigao. It is home to gated communities whose names - Beijing Riviera, Grand Hills and Champagne Cove - offer an indication of the lifestyle their inmates enjoy. With house prices starting at £285,000 and boasting their own supermarkets, golf courses and swimming pools, the compounds are home to a growing number of foreigners who work in Beijing for multinationals, or entrepreneurs looking to cash in on China's economic boom.But now dark clouds are hovering, at least metaphorically, over Beigao. Much to the fury of many foreign residents, the Beijing Health Bureau has decided to move a 600-bed hospital for infectious diseases from the city centre to within a stone's throw of their haven.Property prices have already started to fall in Beigao, as Mike Ashburn, who moved to Beijing from Newcastle seven years ago, has discovered. "We're trying to rent our house out, or maybe even sell it, but every estate agent we speak to mentions the hospital," he said. "Inevitably, it's having a negative impact on the price of the property."Appalled by their dwindling assets, expats have banded together to oppose the move.