I spent three hours Friday night listening to 16 Republican candidates in Ventura County give campaign speeches of from 7 to 10 minutes each, and this is the most telling observation I came away with: of the thousands of words spoken over those three hours, not one of them was "Schwarzenegger."

Maybe there's something to this notion that the Republican governor no longer excites his base.

The setting in Thousand Oaks included a cardboard standup of President Bush and the speakers stood before an oversized, red-white-and-blue banner that read, "Support President Bush and our troops." Behind and to the left of the speakers was a smallish photograph of Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Only three speakers even mentioned him by title. Assemblywoman Audra Strickland spoke of the GOP Caucus' efforts to protect the concept of marriage exclusively between a man and a woman — and noted, almost as an aside, that victory was achieved on that front last year only because a veto by an unnamed governor. But she spoke not a word of his 2006 agenda — rebuilding highways, schools, levees and water systems.

Bob Larkin, her challenger in the Assembly primary, did talk of the partisan gridlock that blocked the proposed bond package that would have funded that agenda. But here, too, that long Austrian surname did not cross his lips.

Diane Lenning, the California Republican Assembly-backed candidate for superintendent of public instruction, came closest to directly recognizing Schwarzenegger. She made note of the cardboard cutout and the photograph and said it was an honor to be among such noted political figures as the president and the governor.

Two years ago, Republicans in California based their entire campaign strategy on the hope of catching a ride on Schwarzenegger's coattails, which turned out to be nonexistent.

Last fall, Ventura County was among the most successful in the state in rallying Republicans behind Schwarzenegger's ill-fated ballot initiatives.

Now, he doesn't rate a mention. That can't be a good sign.