Actually the veteran members of this forum aren't "worried" about Republican Party internal bickering. I think I can speak for others when I say that we are "worried" about a process that diminishes our republican form of government.
If you'd take just a moment to step from behind your cloak of partisan political loyalty you would realize that there is no reason for a partisan political primary election if there is only one candidate. Political conservatives would rather an honestly fought election than a coronation originating in the proverbial smoky back room
If there was a smoky back room, I didn't see it. Schwarzenegger was endorsed by the General Assembly.
I sympathize with your point about a primary contest, but a primary election is mandated by state law, not the party. No one has presented himself to the party to contest Schwarzenegger. There's no there, there.
We have an extraordinary circumstance where the incumbent gov. has only been in office only a year, we have a short time to get him reelected. The other factor is, he has an extremely ambitious agenda for this year which is going to require an enormous amount of effort and cooperation to pull off. The redistricting of CA is crucial to salvaging the future of this state. With this in mind, I believe the members are looking to form following function.