The long-running animus between Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and state Republican Party pooh bahs was never more apparent than at last weekend's state GOP convention. One party official described the governor as a "kidney stone" that Republicans were waiting to pass. Another delegate offered a resolution that would have offered an official apology to former Gov. Gray Davis for putting him through a worthless recall election.

For his part, Schwarzenegger was in Washington, D.C., with the National Governors Conference, where he entertained the national media with criticisms of some of his fellow GOP governors' response to the federal stimulus package and with pointed criticism of Republican legislators in Sacramento who, in his view, would rather serve ideology than the people.

Now, Joe Mathews -- a former Los Angeles Times reporter and Schwarzenegger biographer -- reports that the governor's advisers recently held a formal discussion to consider whether Schwarzenegger should renounce his party affiliation and become an independent.

They rejected the idea, but don't be surprised if another discussion takes place in the run-up to next year's vote on the open primary. Schwarzenegger clearly wants to leave a legacy of political reform, and he and his team may yet decide he would be in a better position to promote that cornerstone reform as an independent.

The same reasoning may apply if talk of creating a constitutional convention ultimately produces a 2010 ballot measure to accomplish that.