Part of the reason that Arnold was elected, is that most California conservatives and Republicans had never paid close attention to his politics prior to the recall election, and had scant data about his actual record on the issues.
Like most conservatives in the state, I felt squeezed between wanting a real conservative for governor (Tom McClintock), and fearing a win by the liberal lieutenant governor, Cruz Bustamante, so I reluctantly gave my vote to Arnold.
I learned a valuable lesson in that election, in that when faced with the pressure to give your vote to a RINO, or lose an election to a committed liberal, it's probably better to vote your conscience and go down swinging.
If the RINO wins, he or she will likely do the same damage as the liberal, but our side will be (rightfully) blamed for it. The people still won't become educated to the fact that it's liberal policies that don't work. Even worse, they'll be more likely to vote in a liberal in the next election to "fix" the damage caused by "that Republican".
In many ways, George Bush is responsible for Obama winning the Presidency because he did not govern conservatively. If he had, the Democrats would never have taken Congress in 2006, and they wouldn't have stood a chance at re-taking the White House in 2008.
You can substitute any number of names for "Bush," including his father, Nixon-Ford, Wilson, Eisenhower... ALL of whom were followed by Democrats.