Replies

Very good response in #62!

When I hear Arnold talk and see him, I think of a leader. He is so proud to be an American and when he said everyone that comes to this Country has to earn the right to become a citizen -- he sold me.

Arnold cares about making the State of California better for all Californians not just the special interest groups. I believe Arnold has integrity and unlike some other politicians will not accept campaign donations from groups that he will be negotiating with as Governor.

Have reached the point if I see the word "principled" before conservative, I am likely to vote for the other candidate. I have seen enough of "principled" conservatives to last a long, long time. Until Alan Keyes ran in 2000, I never even heard of the word -- now it is used to describe candidates that I have a hard time supporting. Somehow in this race, being asked to support a candidates that takes hundreds of thousands of dollars from the Indian tribes, goes against my nature. The spin that has accompanied those donations is Clintonesque!

Really getting fed up with the far right declaring who is a conservative and who is not -- just like tagging all of us Arnold supporters along with Republican office holders, etc. with the term "RINO" -- disgusting! Bet you will find out that more of the "RINOs" have worked in the trenches for Republican candidates over the years then the ones trashing us. If they had worked for Republican candidates when we were in the minority, they would not be working to split the votes today as supporters of McC. That isn't standing on principles -- that is wanting to lose for Republicans. No "True" Republican wants to lose!

PhiKapMom--

Rinos do exist, and they are often deserving of criticism. Snowe, Specter, and their ilk are often harmful to the interests of the party as a whole and certainly to the principles that animate the vast majority of Republicans. I think that a true RINO is one that has little or no loyalty to the party, and bends over backwards to go against the party, causing people to think that they label themselves as Republican only for political expediency. Bloomberg comes to mind.

I don't consider Arnold to be a RINO under that definition. He has been a friend to republicans for 30 years, and has been there for the party. I consider him to be a liberal Republican, as are Rudy Giuliani and Norm Coleman. Sometimes the choice is between a liberal Republican and a socialist, and I will always go with the liberal Republican. With Rudy we were rewarded with an efficient and good mayor who did not hurt conservatives because a mayor has little impact on issues like abortion. With Arnold, let's hope we get similar governance.

When the choice is between a true RINO and a Democrat, then I would analyze the race as though party labels did not exist, and figure out which person I wanted to win. If there is no difference between the candidates, then I would vote for the Democrat over a RINO, because if we are going to have Democrat policies, I would prefer they get blamed on a Democrat.

True Rinos that I have noticed were Weicker of Connecticut and Jeffords, before both of them changed parties, Bloomberg, Chafee, Gerald Ford, Specter, and a few in the House. Snowe worries me. In the Supreme Court, we have lost many judges, latest examples being O'Connor and Kennedy. There are a couple governors who act like RINOs, Ryan of Illinois being the latest example. Don't exonerate all RINOs just because we both support Arnold in this particular race. I'm sure he will make us both mad a few times in the next 3 years, but he is still preferable to Davis.