The last time Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger attempted to push a plan to redraw political districts, he stood in a Sacramento suburban neighborhood and started pulling up some red tape that had been laid down to show how two side-by-side homes were in different legislative districts.

(Of course, it turns out that pesky district line was actually several blocks away from where staffers had laid down the tape… but I digress.)

Today, the governor called a Capitol news conference– now devoid of such gimmick photo ops– and said the time is right for a new effort at taking process of political map drawing process out of the hands of legislators, one year after voters rejected the Schwarzenegger-endorsed Proposition 77.

“I am absolutely sure that this is the year where we can do it,” he said.

The governor’s proposal (which reportedly does not have a legislative sponsor at this point) is similar to a plan that failed to make it out of the Assembly before the end of the 2006 session. As with the previous proposal, political districts would be drawn by an 11-member citizens commission, with no more than 8 members being either Democrats or Republicans.

But there are a few new twists. For one, the governor’s plan calls for a panel of county clerks to oversee the creation of a pool of eligible commissioners. And after the four legislative leaders each exercised their vetoes of two candidates, the state’s Fair Political Practices Commission would randomly draw names to pick the actual members.

The governor continues to sell the idea of redistricting by noting that no legislative seats changed parties in the last two elections. “We must bring competition back in the political process.”

But his proposal does not require the citizens commission to use voter registration data to make districts competitive. That’s partly because the concept of a “competitive district” is somewhat subjective.

Several researchers have concluded that, yes, there could be a few more competitive races… but not a large number, especially if districts must also remain geographically compact. For example, you can’t draw many Republican-friendly seats in the Bay Area, and you can’t draw many Democrat-friendly seats in the Central Valley.

But when I asked the governor about the issue of competitiveness, he seemed to say that it would happen somewhat organically if his proposal was enacted. “There will be many more seats that will be competitive if you draw [districts] the right way,” said Schwarzenegger.

Audio clips of the governor’s Q&A with reporters are below.

* On the issue of competitive districts

* On whether the governor is willing to link redistricting to a modification or extension of term limits

* On whether he is willing to join the reform groups who support his proposal (and were on stage) and take this to the ballot as an initiative if the Legislature fails to act

* On why, after the Legislature failed to enact redistricting reform in 2006, he thinks anything will change in 2007

* On whether adding this issue to health care, prison reform, the budget, and others… is an overly ambitious agenda for a single legislative year