By Katherine Corcoran of the San Jose Mercury News:

A tanned and jovial Arnold Schwarzenegger is pressing flesh instead of pumping iron these days, greeting regular folks in schools, shopping malls and media outlets to build support for his ballot initiative to add $430 million in state money for after-school programs.

The measure, Proposition 49, is ahead in the polls and enjoys a long list of bipartisan supporters, though its small opposition is growing. But the Austrian-born movie star with the famous accent said he's taking nothing for granted.

``I always run like I'm behind,'' he said in an editorial board meeting at the Mercury News on Thursday.

In fact, in many instances he sounds more like a candidate on the stump, saying the initiative is necessary because politicians in Sacramento aren't doing their jobs or providing a vision for the state.

But Schwarzenegger disputes critics who say the feel-good proposition that creates no new money sources for after-school programs is simply a front for his well-known gubernatorial ambitions. He is widely expected to be a Republican candidate for governor in 2006.

He noted that his measure is drawing unprecedented support from diverse camps, including the California Teachers Association, the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association and state Attorney General Bill Lockyer, a potential Democratic rival for the governor's seat.

Proposition 49 would rename the state's after-school program the After School Education and Safety Act and add about $430 million to about $120 million in state money currently spent on after-school programs. The measure calls for no new taxes, but would require that $550 million in state general fund money be spent on after-school programs, regardless of the budget situation. Because the state is in a recession, the initiative states that the measure would not go into effect until the non-education portion of the budget increases by at least $1.5 billion over its highest level in previous years.

Opponents, including the California League of Women Voters and the California Federation of Teachers, say the measure puts dangerous restrictions on state spending in uncertain economic times. They argue that cuts may have to be made to other programs, including those benefiting children, to meet the annual Proposition 49 mandate.

Schwarzenegger, who rejected a run for governor this year, said he is happy to promote something other than himself for now. He also said he doesn't regret his decision not to run for office.

``I can't regret something I had no choice over,'' he said, adding that he had contractual obligations for the movie ``Terminator 3,'' and the producers, who are good friends of his, would have been forced to sue him if he had backed out.

``If I had gone on the campaign trail, then I would have gotten the commercials that said, `If his best friends in the movie business can't trust him, who can trust him with the fifth-largest economy in the world?' '' he quipped.

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René de Jong