Exactly!!!! That's the whole thing! If AS wins, he won't be bringing in any other conservative candidates in the state (tiny coattails), and he drags the whole party further left, esp. when they have to support him for his re-election. (And how do you think the grass-roots will think about that? These are the same people who elected Simon in the primaries!)
Putting your support behind Arnold is a double whammy. It not only means you sell out your principles now, but you mute them in order to get him re-elected, and live with more liberal and moderates getting elected. It's not a one-time shot, but the opening chapter in a book of slow death.
A Democrat Primary Field Poll of California voters released today - make sure you read the last line.
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A Field Poll of registered Democratic voters released this morning says 23 percent would vote for Dean in the state's March presidential primary. That's up from 14 percent in July.
Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman followed with 15 percent, and Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry placed third with 11 percent.
The rest of the field registered just single digits in the survey, with former House Democratic leader Dick Gephardt getting eight percent support; former Illinois Sen. Carol Moseley Braun, four percent; civil rights leader Al Sharpton, three percent; and senators John Edwards and Bob Graham and Representative Dennis Kucinich all with one percent. Some 29 percent of registered Democrats were undecided.
The poll also found that each of the top Democrats in the field - Dean, Lieberman, Kerry and Gephardt - placed even with President Bush in head-to-head matchups among registered voters.
Bush received between 43 and 45 percent of the vote in each matchup, with each Democrat registering 40 to 45 percent support.
http://www.heraldtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20030917/APN/309170694