[Sabertooth]

Even if Arnold pulls it out in a close 3-man race, the GOP has been hoping for a Terminator mandate. Such would make it easier for him to deal with the runaway RATS who have been destroying our state.

This is where I disagree with you, Doug.

Schwarzenegger could win 80% of the vote on October 7th, and the gerrymandered, safe-seat Democrat legislature would still define "mandate" as a lifestyle magazine.

On the other hand, a Schwarzenegger win by a plurality will be a cautionary note to future Republican statewide candidates who are generally going to need a majority to win.

One of the goals of the architects of Schwarzenegger's campaign has been to disprove the 1962 lesson Richard Nixon, in his loosing gubernatorial campaign. However, as a conservative sage wrote recently...

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

Schwarzenegger's team thought they could duck debates, wave polls in the air, and ram a center-left agenda down the throats of the GOP's right wing. They have miscalculated.

Therefore, to underscore the point when October 7th rolls around, I'll be voting Yes on Recall, and for Tom McClintock to replace Gray Davis.

[doug from upland]

I appreciate your position. I hope that Arnold is unique enough that his larger-than-life presence can actually do something. He makes news where he goes. He will get exposure on television to make his case. The media will not be able to ignore him. And, perhaps this is a sleeper benefit, he will appeal to normally foolish young brain dead RATS whose schools never exposed them to our message. Maybe Arnold can have a big influence on them.