Not all that loaded, it seems. The governor’s wife is seen as a force to be reckoned with in the California state capitol, the News explained.

There’s nothing new about the glamorous TV reporter working alongside her husband. The News says she’s long been a full partner in Arnold Schwarzenegger's business affairs.

"I've always been interested in helping Arnold with whatever he was doing. I want him to do well. I want him to succeed. I've always looked at that as part of my job," Shriver told the News in an interview this month.

Shriver has already played a pivotal role. She was said to have been the key broker in getting the Democratic Legislature to back Arnold's fiscal plan for the state.

In his administration, the News says, "her fingerprints are everywhere, from the Impressionist landscapes that hang in his suite of offices, to the content of his speeches, to the people he hires, to his position on issues like stem-cell research and hybrid cars.

"Her reporter-like grilling of unprepared aides is affectionately nicknamed the 'Full Maria' by the governor's advisers."

Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez views Shriver as a diplomat who helps him work with Schwarzenegger. "People underestimate the role Maria is having in the administration," he told the News. "She is going to go down in history as the most powerful first lady in California."

When Nunez successfully sought Shriver's help to persuade the governor to back off budget cuts to the disabled, Schwarzenegger told him, "If you're talking to her, it's like talking to me," Nunez recalled. "It's almost like a team."

And although Schwarzenegger has joked, "When you're married to my wife, you're never your own boss," he doesn’t always toe the line she advocates.

Shriver, who the News describes as "a Democrat to the core and proud of her husband's bipartisan image," did not want him to campaign for President Bush in the critical state of Ohio, according to Schwarzenegger advisers.

Schwarzenegger tepidly went to Ohio for his one and only campaign effort for Bush - a two-hour campaign appearance in Columbus, Ohio.

Other than the Ohio visit and his prime-time convention speech, Schwarzenegger made no additional campaign appearances outside California for Bush.

Some Washington pundits believe that Schwarzenegger's close relationship with Teddy Kennedy, Shriver's uncle, prevented him from strongly backing Bush in what was expected to be a tight race. Kennedy was considered the most influential Democrat backing Kerry's election.

Shriver plays down her role in her husband’s administration "It's all Arnold, all the time."

"I try to kind of bring him as much as I can," she told the News, "And then, let it go."

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