"Of course, if we had listened to some of those rabid Republican partisans, maybe they wouldn't have nominated a closet Democrat to the Republican ticket in the first place, eh? The "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em mentality" in some dusty corners of the big tent is slowing poisoning the GOP, both in California and elsewhere."
People can argue all night long about Arnold, but one thing that is inarguable is that without Arnold we could not have taken the governors seat from Gray Davis in a recall.
Nonsense. Here is the last USA Today/CNN/GALLUP poll before the recall.
"6. If the choice were between Cruz Bustamante, the Democrat and Tom McClintock, the Republican, who would you be more likely to vote for: Cruz Bustamante or Tom McClintock?"
September 25-27
Registered Voters
McClintock 49%
Bustamante 42%
Probable Voters
McClintock 56%
Bustamante 37%
Despite having the second lowest Republican registration of any senate Republican seat up for election this year, McClintock's campaign ran more than 19 points ahead of party registration - the largest margin of any senate Republican:
Candidate Party Votes Percent
* Tom McClintock Republican 226,225 61.0%
Paul Joseph Graber Democratic 144,800 39.0%
So California won't vote conservative? Consider the spate of recent ballot propositions:
| Prop 227 | English only education in public schools | Passed |
| Prop 209 | No more affirmative action in State hiring or education | Passed |
| Prop 22 | Heterosexual marriage only | Passed |
| Prop 187 | No benefits for illegal aliens | Passed |
Simon lost to Davis by only 325,000 votes after the most incompetent campaign in history and while being stabbed in the back by his own Party.
Don't give us ‘California is a liberal state’ until you know what you are talking about. The problem is a gerrymandered legislature, not the voters.
“My relationship to power and authority is that I’m all for it,” he once explained. “People need somebody to watch over them.... Ninety-five percent of the people in the world need to be told what to do and how to behave.”
Arnold Schwarzenegger, U.S. News & World Report, Nov 26, 1990