The American Spectator

p> SELL OFF br> Re: George Neumayr’s Losing by Winning : /p>

George Neumayr seems to think that California Republicans voting for Arnold Schwarzenegger is tantamount to Episcopalians voting for a gay bishop. The fact is, Arnold is not a “de facto Democrat and Hollywood liberal.”

I like Tom McClintock. I’ve given money to his campaigns in the past. And up to about a week ago, if any pollster had called me, I would have told them I was voting for McClintock. But with polls now showing Arnold beating McClintock by 22 or more points, neither I nor the California Republican Party “elites” are sabotaging McClintock’s campaign by endorsing Arnold. Though I (and most of the party “elites”) agree with Mr. Neumayr that McClintock could beat Bustamante — in a two-way race — the fact is, we don’t have a two-way race. And it seems a bit much to ask of the Republican “elites” to pressure Arnold (polling at 40%) to drop out so that McClintock (polling at 15%) can have a chance to win.

It appears that one of the biggest problems conservatives like Mr. Neumayr have with Arnold is that he is not pro-life. But with Roe v. Wade the law of the land, this is irrelevant in a gubernatorial race. And certainly the California legislature, dominated by liberal Democrats, is not going to pass anything restricting abortion rights.

As commentators, we can be as ideologically pure as we want, without consequences. That’s not true in politics. Any political party that wants to be more significant than the Libertarians has to allow for a reasonable variation from its ideological core for the simple fact that the vast majority of voters are not ideological. Having little record to go by, Arnold is a bit of a question mark, but he says enough of the right things that this conservative is going to have no trouble punching his San Diego County punch-card ballot all the way through for Arnold on Tuesday.

p>I would like to remind Mr. Neumayr and like-minded conservatives, that George W. Bush is no Ronald Reagan (or Tom McClintock). But we are all better off that in 2000 Republicans decided to win with George W. Bush rather than to lose with Alan Keyes. br> — Brandon Crocker br> San Diego, CA /p>