Aren't you being contradictory with your advice? If Arnold has some skeleton in his closet, don't you think the Democrats are going to wait until the weekend before the election to unearth the skeleton (just like Chris Lehane did with GW's DUI conviction on the Friday before the Tuesday election)? If so, then it makes sense for McClintock to stay in as insurance until just before the end of the election. Having McClintock stay in until just before the election also makes sense to the extent it prevents Gray Davis and Bustamante from focusing all of their negative campaigning on Arnold. Finally, as long as McClintock and his people are not tearing down Arnold and Arnold and his people are not tearing down McClintock, it makes sense for McClintock to stay in until the end because McClintock's people might otherwise not vote in favor of the recall if he were to fade away right now. The bottom line is this. Arnold can get 70% of the vote for governor and still not win if Davis gets 51% of the recall vote. So like it or not, every vote that McClintock brings to the table right now helps Arnold to the extent that the McClintock voter votes in favor of the recall.