[Brian S]

If they are the only two choices, Arnold of course, but right now they are not the only two.

McClintock would be my preference if I lived in CA. If it got within two weeks of the election and McClintock hadn't a chance, I would support Arnold vigorously in the final days pre-election.

[Austin Willard Wright]

Why is Arnold your choice if he can do something (and probably will) that Davis cannot do: raise taxes?

[Austin Willard Wright]

Why is Arnold your choice if he can do something (and probably will) that Davis cannot do: raise taxes?

[Dane]

If they are the only two choices, Arnold of course, but right now they are not the only two.

McClintock would be my preference if I lived in CA. If it got within two weeks of the election and McClintock hadn't a chance, I would support Arnold vigorously in the final days pre-election

Well basically it does come down to two choices, like all other American elections.

That is how the system is set up. The Founding Fathers did not set up a parliamentary system. They set up a winner take all system, where the strongest political entity wins.

And in political war the winner is the strongest of the two most powerful entities, and in the case of the California recall, the two strongest entities are Arnold and Bustamnte.

[Protagoras]

If they are the only two choices,

There seems to be over a 100 choices. Not to mention not voting for any of them. It's not a good idea to vote for something you don't want. It makes them think you do want it.

[ThePythonicCow]

If it got within two weeks of the election and McClintock hadn't a chance,

Close - I'd suggest that the right voting strategy (and the one I'll use - I do have the good^H^H^H^Hmisfortune of living here) is:

1. If it's close between Cruz and Arnold, vote for Arnold. One chance in 10,000 that yours might actually be the deciding vote, and Arnold is the lesser of two evils. Can you imagine going through life knowing that Cruz had won by a single vote, and your vote would have changed the outcome, if only you had placed it right.
2. If it's not close, either way, vote for the man you really wish would win, McClintock in this case. No chance your vote will be the tie breaker, so spend it sending an itsy bitsy teeny weenie message, a note in a bottle dropped off the Golden Gate bridge on the outgoing tide, to future generations.
3. If it wasn't close because Cruz was winning, bring home a bottle of cheap whiskey, and get plastered. Just when it couldn't get any worse, it does.