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I want to start off by saying that - I agree with you (to a degree) - it would be great to see a conservative, Christian Republican elected as California governor. But, as Conservatives, I think we should "wait and see" how the campaign turns out over the next few weeks before we start throwing stones at Arnie.

Listen, what California needs - and you can check my message archive because I've said it before - is a fiscal conservative. It needs a leadership that can balance the books and undo some of the damage that the Rats have done to the local economy. Without a strong Republican leadership, California's on the highway to bankruptcy. And - I doubt anyone here would disagree - the last thing CA needs is the Rats returned to power.

Arnie may be a RINO, but he's also a RINO who can steal votes from the Rats, and a RINO who is (somewhat) fiscally Conservative. Having him elected would be infinately better than having a Rat in power.

That said, California Democrats are notorious for playing dirty. If the electorate turns its back on Arnie, then by all means attack Arnie and support the more conservative candidates. *BUT*, if it turns out that, in a few weeks, Arnie is still on top and well ahead of Conservative opponents, and stands a good chance of winning, then we should aim to get a Republican in, in California.

Thank you for your well-reasoned response. There has been precious little of that coming from too many around here on this.

But let me explain to you why Schwarzenegger presents such a dilemma for me personally.

Let me start with the visceral level.

As I said in my previous post, all the signs are there that he despises conservatives and Christians; the very people that I consider to be the salt of the earth--the best people in America--the only real hope for our republic.

I have this gut reaction against AS for the same reasons I had that reaction to Clinton. Clinton went to church, carried a big oversized Bible, misquoted scripture, while being the head of a party of people who would do anything to destroy the very principles represented by those things. In short he was a hypocrite. AS doesn't do that. But he is doing exactly the same thing in the political realm. He is taking on the trappings of a Republican, while representing none of the principles that party label is supposed to stand for, and hating those who do. In fact, most of his stances seem to be identical to the political positions of a Democrat. In short, I have an emotional reaction to politicians who pretend to be one thing, when in actuality they are something else. They are hypocrites.

But, putting aside that emotional response on my part, on a purely intellectual level, my experience tells me that a Schwarzenegger governorship presents great dangers to the conservative movement, and to the future shape of the GOP both in CA and nationally.

He will strengthen liberals in the party--those whose strength is already far beyond their numbers.

He will muddy the waters in the political debates that determine the course of policy in this country; thereby slowing progress towards restoring our institutions.

Contrary to what some of my detractors around here would think or claim, I can be quite pragmatic. Politics is the art of the possible to a great degree. A mark of sanity is being able to live in the world according to how it exists, not the way we want it to be.

But there are lines that cannot be crossed; compromises that should not be made; ideals that, if abandoned, represent utter failure and defeat. The support for any pro-Abortion, anti-Second Amendment candidate anywhere at any time falls into that category.

Just my opinion.

We all know Arnold is not a social conservative but he has not proven himself to be a fiscal conservative either. Example-he pushed and helped to win a big bond issue in the last election cycle for after school programs, and has said he wants to expand it. After he announced his candidacy he started running on a platform for better schools, for better eductation for our children, etc (code words for more money). The last thing we needed was another big bond issue with the economy going downhill while our cost of borrowing was going up! Can you name any fiscal conservatives that supported this?

It's a trap to think that because someone is running or has a business they are a fiscal conservative when it comes to government. Many liberal democrats have successful businesses. Now, AS just might turn out to be fiscally conservative, however, I have seen no evidence of it. In the end, if we get a Republican in there that does not get the job done it will be worse than not having a recall. It will kill us in the next general election. It would be better to have Gray-out at the helm when it sinks.