If not for the fact that the Founding Fathers, having just prevailed in a revolution against oppression from abroad, sought to ensure their independence by barring those born on foreign soil from ever leading their new nation, a former tank driver in the Austrian army would today be among the most likely Americans to become president of the United States in 2008.

On a night when Americans nearly everywhere asserted their displeasure with Republican rule in Washington — and made their point by voting not just against Republican congressmen but also against GOP governors — Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger won a landslide re-election in California.

The key to his success, he and members of his team asserted, was a determination to present himself to Californians as someone more interested in solving problems than in waging partisan fights or scoring political points.

Schwarzenegger's Democratic wife, Maria Shriver, introduced him at his victory rally as someone "who finds unity where there is often diversity."

His campaign manager, Steve Schmidt, who came to the California campaign directly from the hyper-charged partisan polarization of Washington , D.C. , said his new boss should serve as a model to national Republicans who today are wondering how to rebuild.

"When people start to process this election," Schmidt said, "they're going to look to Arnold Schwarzenegger as an example. The American people want to see this type of leadership. They want the fighting to stop."

Christine Todd Whitman, the former New Jersey governor and one-time Bush administration EPA administrator, stumped in California a couple weeks before the election. She was here to promote moderate Republican candidates — including Assemblywoman Lynn Daucher of Orange County , who just might be the one candidate in 100 legislative races on Tuesday to have broken the other party's hold on a seat in Sacramento (she leads by 13 votes).

Whitman, who called Schwarzenegger a model for other Republicans, was also promoting her organization, MyPartyToo.com, a group that seeks to make the GOP a more welcoming party for those who believe in some of the things Schwarzenegger embraces: stem-cell research, reducing carbon emissions to make a dent in global warming, domestic partnership rights, a humane immigration policy.

"These are ideas that don't have party labels," Whitman told me.

Whitman said the mood leading up to the Republicans' midterm meltdown indicated public disgust in a political environment in which even as serious an issue as the Iraq war at times seems to some to be little more than fodder for domestic political warfare.

"Not every issue is a partisan political issue," she said. "The public understands that. The congressional leadership has sought to cast every vote as a partisan vote. That's never been our way."

Whitman said that unless something changes quickly and dramatically, the 2008 presidential campaign will not be a step forward.

She cites several potential Republican candidates who might be able to cool the political rhetoric and wage a campaign on real issues rather than wedge issues: John McCain, Rudy Giuliani, former Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge , even Hawaii Gov. Linda Lingle (a GOP governor in a bright blue state).

She believes none stands a chance under the current primary process, in which the extremes on each side control the nomination.

"I don't think they could get through the process as it exists," she said. "To me, that's just wrong."

In a way, then, maybe it's a good thing that Schwarzenegger is constitutionally barred from running for president. He couldn't win a Republican primary any way. In fact, he publicly counts among his political blessings the fact that rules of the recall election gave him a once-in-a-lifetime chance to become governor without having to withstand a Republican primary.

Without the appearance of self-interest, Schwarzenegger can now spend time spreading the word around the country that the politicians voters want are those who sometimes acknowledge that the other party can come up with a good idea or two.

He can argue that emerging voters are the ones who most embrace the value that government ought to be in the business of providing services that improve people's lives rather than pitching provocative ideas designed to drive people apart.

These emerging voters are Latinos, who have shown that they are motivated by issues rather than party labels.

On that score, Schwarzenegger can point to his own showing: An exit poll of Latino voters conducted Tuesday by the William C. Velasquez Institute showed that 70 percent of Latino voters nationwide voted for a Democrat for Congress.

But in California , 41.5 percent cast ballots for Schwarzenegger, giving him a 1-point edge over Democrat Phil Angelides.

By virtue of his birth, Schwarzenegger cannot become a candidate for president. By virtue of his landslide, he can certainly become a leader in reshaping a Republican Party now in tatters.