Governor Schwarzenegger sounds like he's giving lawmakers-- and himself-- until June 10th to avoid a special election.

Schwarznegger referenced the date in a short interview with conservative talk radio host Sean Hannity, in which he blamed his opponents for the plummeting poll numbers ("They're lying to the people") and said his goal is to fix the system, not to be popular.

June 10th is pretty much in the middle of the time window officials at the Secretary of State's office estimate the governor has to decide whether he wants a special election.

But the back-and-forth could drag out even longer: the governor and the Legislature may have until as late as June 30th to place any compromise proposals on a November ballot. Sure, any initiative that qualifies would still be there. But the governor could throw his support behind any agreed-upon alternatives... just like he did with the local government funding measure Prop 1A last year.

So should he call a special election, or not?

Speaking to the Sacramento Press Club today, Citizens To Save California co-chair Allan Zaremberg indicated he's less worried about the date of an election than what's on the ballot. "The special election is up to the governor," he said.

But others who traditionally support conservative issues may not keep quiet if everything simply gets pushed to the scheduled June 2006 primary. Lew Uhler, the proponent of the paycheck protection initiative, tells me that Schwarzenegger's "credibility" is on the line if he doesn't call a special election. By the way, Uhler says he'll have all the signatures he needs on his initiative by the end of the week.

It's going to be an interesting few days... and weeks.