If you were to guess that a midweek, late morning rally focusing on subjects like state budget policy might draw a small crowd, you'd be right.

That's exactly what happened this morning on the west steps of the Capitol. My own rough estimate is that maybe 200 people were on hand for the "Thank You Governor Schwarzenegger" rally organized by the governor's allies as Citizens To Save California.

The event was designed, according to supporters, to rally the faithful in support of the governor's reform agenda. But many of the onlookers looked to be either legislative staffers stepping out of the building to see what was going on, or tourist groups who happened to be in town. Still, there were die-hard supporters on hand. And as the jazz band played on, the pro-Arnold rhetoric was fever-pitched.

Away from the official event (thanks to private security guards) were about two dozen anti-Arnold protesters, mainly nurses and labor union activists. Two billboards-- critical of the governor-- were driven by an SUV up and down the streets around the Capitol all morning long.
But several Capitol watchers wondered if the rally's real purpose was to combat recent worries that the wheels could be coming off the governor's reform agenda. Last week, the governor decided to abandon his pension reform initiative. This week, there are new questions about the language of his budget reform initiative (including an analysis you can read here by the California Budget Project).

So did the event succeed?

There were miscues that were uncharacteristic of most pro-Schwarzenegger rallies, like when comedian Tom Arnold asked the crowd to help him urge the governor to come join the event. "Come on out, buddy", screamed Arnold. But someone finally whispered in Arnold's ear that the governor was actually on his way to a policy event across town.

And one sign-waving supporter seemed most excited by the portable barbecue cooker brought out to the event... he was overheard saying, "We have to listen to the speeches before we can have a hot dog."