You don't get it.
I didn't say that a real conservative can't be elected in California. I did say that your ideal Republican party, which apparently wouldn't allow anyone in it if he/she compromised and reluctantly voted for an Arnold as the lesser of two evils, would be an ineffective splinter party.
That if you drummed realistic conservatives like me out of the GOP (it will never happen, but it seems you would like it to), the Republican nominee would get about 5,000 votes. He/she would certainly never, ever come within 5,000 votes of winning any statewide office. I doubt such a party's candidate could even get elected in a solid-red district.
Your amnesia is remarkable. It was only four years ago that Bill Simon ran. Simon certainly wouldn't qualify as your kind of Republican, either, and he would regard your posts on this thread with utter contempt -- as would Tom McClintock. Simon wasn't my ideal candidate, really, because he wasn't conservative enough or outspokenly conservativve enough. But he was a hell of a lot better than Arnold, who is still substantially better than any Rat.
If you don't understand the importance of such distinctions (on top of the fact that you cannot rationally construe a FReep post with more than five simple words in it) I sincerely hope that there aren't as many of you out there representing the GOP as I fear there may be.
I think you're addressing this to goldstategop. I never suggested that anyone should be purged from the Party, although we do need to clean house on a leadership that has no interest in promoting the Party platform.
Simon certainly wouldn't qualify as your kind of Republican, either,
This is patently false, as anyone who was on FR during that election can attest. There is virtually no one on this board who did more to defend Bill Simon from sniping within his own party.
It is your amnesia that is therefore remarkable.
As to Tom McClintock, he has proven himself a wonderful leader with horrible political acumen.
If you don't understand the importance of such distinctions (on top of the fact that you cannot rationally construe a FReep post with more than five simple words in it) I sincerely hope that there aren't as many of you out there representing the GOP as I fear there may be.
If you can't see the hypocrisy in this paragraph, you're absolutely right about your conclusion.