Arnold Schwarzenegger Would Get 25% of the Vote If Californians Voted Today

Drudge Report ^ | 9 August 2003

[Hal1950]

Arnold Schwarzenegger Would Get 25% of the Vote If Californians Voted Today

California voters would remove Governor Gray Davis from office and replace him with Arnold Schwarzenegger by a 19 percentage-point margin if the election were held today, according to a TIME/CNN Poll.

Schwarzenegger leads Lt. Governor Cruz Bustamanate, his closest competitor, by a 25%-to-15% margin. Trailing were State Sen. Tom McClintock (9%), former candidate for governor Bill Simon (7%) and (tied with 4%) Hustler publisher Larry Flynt, columnist Arianna Huffington, and former Major League Baseball commissioner Peter Ueberroth, U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein beat Schwarzenegger to replace Davis, 22 percent to 20 percent, if she had been a candidate, according to to TIME/CNN survey.

But California voters are not convinced that the Austrian-born action hero is capable of governing the state: 45% think he is, but many (55%) think he isn't capable (39%) or are unsure (16%). Schwarzenegger is not perceived as falling into any ideological camp: more see him as "moderate" (40%) than either conservative (23%) or "liberal" (19%).

The TIME/CNN Poll, conducted Aug. 8, surveyed 508 registered California voters by telephone. The margin of error is +/- 4.3%.

Developing...

[PhiKapMom]

Yes. How detestable for Republicans to actually want to WIN elections. Unprincipled.

It is far better to remain always totally principled, out of office and power. That frees up all of the time, to bitch and moan and complain.

You have my 100% agreement in what you have just stated. I am totally convinced that some "pure" or "real" conservatives or whatever name they are using today, are happier with a RAT in office so they can get the rest of us to whine with them.

Well this Republican wants a Republican Governor in California to help shoot down the hope of Hillary Clinton running in 2004 or 2008! Not a one issue Republican conservative -- never have been and never will be.

[LaraCroft]

You took the words out of my mouth Jay.. great reply.

Arnold is not the savior, and it is amazing that everyone is saying so when the man hasn't said ONE thing about how he is going to fix things.

I guess you see him in a few movies, you get a feel for how he thinks, right?

I shouldn't be surprised... I really think Ca voters are just marginally smarter than Fl voters.

[Arkinsaw]

Great thinking. I'm impressed by yet another FR poster.

Republican hardliners in Arkansas threw out Tim Hutchinson who was a 100% guaranteed to vote against abortion and 100% guaranteed conservative vote on every issue and replaced him with Mark Pryor who is the exact opposite.

Why?

Because Tim divorced his wife and married another and they could stick up their noses and say "I did it for the principle of the thing, damn the consequences". Unfortunately the consequences are Mark Pryor votes against Catholic judicial nominees who are against abortion, votes against partial birth abortion, and votes on the wrong side of every issue. Things Hutchinson would never vote for.

But its not about actual votes and real things, its about feeling good about yourself because you acted out of "principle". Thats a lot more important than political reality and actual votes in the Senate, or real babies lives......isn't it?

In California we know Schwarzenegger can win if everyone falls in line with him. We are pretty sure that McClintock can't win as it stands now even though we favor him. But its better to have Bustamante in office than ever vote for Arnold.....isn't it?

[al baby]

no shes the dog that needs to be caught

[JohnBovenmyer]

If they bail out won't their names still be on the ballot.

[KQQL]

[EGPWS]

Music to a lil' ol' pubbies' ears.

Me too! I thought I lost my "musically trained ears" years ago, but realized now that I have maintained it!

[SoCal_Republican]

I just saw that Garemendi is out. What a big fat surprise (not). The democrats now effectively have one candidate and the Republicans have three. This was totally planned. I just hope the two Republican bottom feeders (whomever they will be near recall time) will strongly endorse the front runner (adds, press conference)so we don't end up with Bustamante. If Bustamante gets in, say welcome to triple car tax, income tax increases, and sales tax increases.

[Hillary's Lovely Legs]

[Arkinsaw]

And you're willing to make this noble sacrifice living in what state, Arkansas?

Its an unfortunate fact that the arrogant "you must live like we do, only we know best" attitude spews out of Hollywood and Berkeley. I'm sorry for you and other good Californians that this is a fact.

You are just going to have to live with the fact that people elsewhere are happy to see that great lie slapped down hard. We here in Arkansas had to learn to live with the lie that spewed out of our State onto the rest of the country and we paid dearly for it. Thats just the way it goes sometimes.

Its nothing personal, blame Berkeley and Hollywood and the rest.

[EGPWS]

Arnold is not the savior, and it is amazing that everyone is saying so when the man hasn't said ONE thing about how he is going to fix things.

Yes he has! He has conveyed his concern for the "children" and will focus on them!....keep watching your wallets Californians!

[KQQL]

[Libloather]

If Bustamante gets in, say welcome to triple car tax, income tax increases, and sales tax increases.

Heck, that could pay down the national debt in a few years - eh? I maybe for that...

[EGPWS]

Want to stop abortions, change people's hearts ..

How else? Certainly not by changing peoples mind's! That has been obvious for 30 years.

[KQQL]

Want to stop abortions, change people's hearts ..NOT LAWS..

[Batrachian]

It doesn't really matter if their names remain on the ballot. It only matters if they get votes, which is unlikely if they publicly withdraw from the race.

[Brian S]

I do believe the neocons have found themselves a genuine "poster boy"... :)

[PhiKapMom]

The word RINO is demeaning and I wish I had never used it myself but I grew up and realized I was using it for some of our Republicans that were not Republican in Name Only -- they were lifelong Republicans who voted how the majority of their States wanted them to vote. What are they elected to do anyways?

What gives any of you the right to determine if someone who has been a lifelong Republican is Republican in Name Only? Where in our Party Platform does it say we are the Conservative Republican Party? No place to answer my own question.

The Republican Party leans to the right, but what gives people the right to say our two Senators from Maine or others are not Republican in more than Name Only and now Arnold is added to the list. A conservative cannot get elected Senator from Maine and other more liberal states -- you want to know one of the reasons? Because the "pure" conservatives in their unbending, all knowing, arrogant attitude, give the rest of us a bad name. The mantra of a candidate has to be 100% conservative on all the issues or I am not voting for him, is just flat out wrong.

How do you expect anyone to listen, when you are in their face that they are not really a Republican. Someone called several of us RINO's on here in the past and since I have been a lifelong Republican, I am asking just who made the "pure" conservatives the judge and jury of the rest of us.

Sorry to burst your bubble but the Republican Party has a lot of diverse candidates and because they are not 100% of what you want doesn't make them wrong or you right. They have a right to their opinion as you do to yours. The bottom line is that they are Republican and so am I -- a Bush Republican as a matter of fact.

BTW, until recently I had never heard of "pure" or "true" conservatives and I still wish I hadn't because I find it demeaning to the rest of us conservatives who want to win elections and will vote for MODERATE candidates that can win instead of LIBERAL, SOCIALIST DEMOCRATS.

[fqued]

to get this thread back to the article. . .

This is GREAT NEWS! Note carefully WHEN this poll was taken--on August 8th. That is a Friday. Polls taken on Friday are notorious for being biased toward the left (republicans are out having a good time, democrats are staying home, maybe; but it is true--if you want to bias a poll toward the left, do your calling on Friday evening).

Because of that bias, Bustamonte is rather further behind than this poll shows.

Furthermore, Times/CNN polling would not exactly be biased toward the right/middle. Again GOOD NEWS!.

And for the poster who thought that 500 people is not a lot to poll in a state as large as California: most polling is done on samples between 500 and 800. If your sample is reasonably representative, that is all you need. Your margin of error will be in the 3-4% range, but the cost of polling enough people to get the MOE down to 2% would in general be prohibitive. So the size of the sample is not really problematic.