As far as Arnold not being a "social conservative"
Isn't it okay that the Republican not be the left o0f the population on social issue? Schwarzenegger is to the left of Californians. Californians soundly rejected gay marriage recently. Schwarzenegger is for gay marriage, gay adoption, etc. Californians clearly aren't. Schwarzenegger is for gun control. And once guns are banned in this state, there is probably no going back.
fiscal conservative, just as Arnold is</I?
Arnold is not a fiscal conservative, nor even a fiscal moderate. Would ANY fiscal conservative ever say the following:
When businesses come back, revenue comes back. When revenue comes back, we can afford all kinds of different programs that are very important." We want to make sure that the mothers have affordable day care. We want to make sure that the older folks have their care that they need. Everything has to be provided for the people. We have such a great state. There's no reason why we are in the state we are in today."
Hello? Everything has to be provided for the people is the antithesis of fiscal conservatism.
How can this be good for the Republican Party, when you consider Schwarzenegger is being advised by Richard Riordan? Riordan, when campaigning last year, could not disguise his contepmt for Republicans. And Riordan never endorses other Republicans, so there is a good chance Schwarzenegger will only endorse Democrats in other elected offices. [Riordan endorsed Maxine Waters, if that's an indication] Riordan is known for criticizing Democrats for not raising taxes enough.
The Republican Party in California has a major problem: they don't have any respect or concern for their own voters. As long as they are so opposed to Republican voters in the state, the problem will remain.
The bottom line is Schwarzenegger is trying to replace Davis, but his policy positions are virtually identical to Davis'. Can you name one issue that Schwarzenegger disagrees with davis on? [The only issue I can find is the car tax: even Bustamente disagrees with Davis on that] If anything, Schwarzenegger seems more prone to raise taxes than Davis.