I'm don't think you really understand California politics, McClintock's appeal, or Schwarzenegger's high negatives with a fair number of Republicans here. This is all part of a nine-year long running battle here between the grass-roots and the RNC. The RNC has had the upper hand, and thus has lead the GOP to Presidential, Senatorial, and Gubernatorial shutouts here since 1994.
Richard Nixon learned a lesson when he lost his gubernatorial run in 1962...
Richard Nixon once told a friend that he had learned from his own experience running for governor of California in 1962 that you can't win merely by appealing to conservatives. "But you can't win unless you do appeal to conservatives."
William F. Buckley- August 25, 2003
This is still true today, and this is why Arnold is having a tough time drawing conservative support. His advisors assumed the party would flock to him, and have campaigned straight from the center-left. Big mistake, and I'm not sure what he can do to correct it in the next month.