Can 'outsider' allure withstand allegations?

His cross-state "California Comeback Express" tour is over. The polls are in, and he's ahead. But troubling accusations linger, as women come forward alleging misconduct by him.

Ending with a splash as big as his announcement on the Jay Leno Show two months ago that he'd run for governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger's mad dash into the riptide of populist political reform now raises

the question: Has his campaign paved the way into politics, or terminated his foray?

Win or not - as Tuesday's vote will tell - analysts say the main appeal of Mr. Schwarz-enegger's whirlwind candidacy has been the perception (and critics emphasize, "perception") that for all his Hollywood money and privilege, he's one of "the people," ready to do what current state leaders will not, could not, or have not: govern for all.

Whether that attraction is diminished by the election's 11th-hour rash of allegations that Schwarz-enegger engaged in sexual misconduct, only the vote will tell. And that final assessment - one factor in a host of intangibles - may be hard to tease out in voters' choice. In campaign venues across the state, interviews suggest the choice has less to do with policy issues than with gut feelings on whether candidates can reform a government in gridlock.

"The main attraction of a celebrity candidacy ... has been that he is seen as an outsider with the potential of ending the disgust Californians have with the way things have been running," says Elizabeth Garrett, a political scientist at the University of Southern California. She and others note that much of that perception has turned out to be more rhetoric than reality: Schwarzenegger has surrounded himself with political sophisticates and taken money from special interests like all the others.

"He has sold the idea that he is someone with core principles who will stand up for all citizens where the current government leaders have not," says Garrett. Noting a recent Field Poll that gives Schwarzenegger a 10-point lead over Cruz Bustamante (and shows 57 percent of respondents in favor of the recall), Garrett says: "Apparently, to a degree higher than the other candidates, the voters have bought that idea."

That analysis is born out in interviews - though a Knight Ridder poll released Saturday showed the lead narrowing to 7 percent.

"I just like him," says Gino Roncelli, a plastics-business owner standing in a rain of confetti and blaring rock lyrics ("We're not gonna take it anymore") after a rally here Friday. "He's a breath of fresh air."

Now that the campaign is nearly over, say experts, that expectation of Schwarzenegger as an untainted outsider who can clean up the system will be his greatest strength - and liability.

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