By taking on teachers, unions, pensions, legislative redistricting and Democrats all at once, he's transformed what would have been an off-election year in California into a fierce political battlefield with potentially profound national implications.

"It's huge on the national radar screen," said Kevin Spillane, a Republican political consultant in Sacramento. "There's no doubt the special election will be the biggest political story this year."[...] "It is a national battle, and he's really the advance troops for Bush's privatization of Social Security. That's part of what he means. He is opening the door through this pension change to Bush being able to have a better chance to win Social Security privatization."

If he does manage to pull it off, David McCuan, a political science professor at Sonoma State University said, Schwarzenegger will be at another level politically.

"If he wins, he will emerge as the most compelling politician in the country ... ," McCuan said. "Arnold will be the most powerful politician in the country coming out of November, a national kingmaker for the party," he said, "who will be "out to remake the GOP" in a more moderate image.