I think the Los Angeles Times puts it best:

No Times 8

The official message is “Welcome Back to the Status Quo, Well, Not Really” and for good reason. Even though, legally, nothing has changed in California, the political atmosphere has altered incredibly.

What essentially has been proven is that Californians are fed up. Fed up with how our government, and specfically our leadership, is unable to develop solutions to the problems facing our state.

Governor Schwarzenegger’s “year of reform” is dead and if he decides to run for re-election, hs faces an uphill battle. I’ll be the first to say, the Governor has made bold statements, decisions and moves, but he hasn’t be able to effectively communicate and relate his agenda to the people.

California has changed, the peoples’ perspectives have changed, and now the government must change.