He explains why to George Skelton. The governor is interested in looking at changes to the requirement of a two-thirds vote of the legislature to pass a budget. But he also wants to transform the executive branch, which wasn't on the agenda of many folks attending this week's summit in Sacramento on the idea. Schwarzenegger wants to get rid of the independently elected constitutional officers -- the lieutenant governor, the attorney general, the controller, the treasurer -- who sometimes make it hard for him to administer the government.

As a policy matter, Schwarzenegger has a point. There'd be more accountability if the governor could appoint the people in those roles. As a political matter, Schwarzenegger may have hurt the convention effort by saying that. Opponents of the idea will deride the convention as a power grab by a governor whose approval rating is at 33 percent in a new poll.