With the recall election a week away and neither Tom McClintock
nor Arnold Schwarzenegger looking to drop out of the race, the
Bruin Republicans are hard-pressed to decide which of the two GOP
frontrunners to endorse.
The question of who to endorse has gained even more significance
in light of the California Republican Party’s decision Monday
to endorse Schwarzenegger.
“The reason why (the state Republican party) is doing that
is because they think he’s the best hope of getting a
conservative in office,” said Chris Riha, a fourth-year
economics student and executive director of the Bruin
Republicans.
However, it is almost certain that the Bruin Republicans
won’t be endorsing a candidate this year, Riha said.
Because of the intense race between the two Republican
candidates, choosing to endorse one may create a rift among Bruin
Republican members.
“(If the Bruin Republicans chose Schwarzenegger) I would
not like that at all. I’m not going to leave the Bruin
Republicans over it, but I think it would be a poor choice,”
said group member Andrew Reinicke, a fifth-year political science
and history student who supports McClintock.
The group similarly avoided creating a division among its
members during the 2002 gubernatorial election, when it did not
endorse a Republican candidate since neither Richard Riordan nor
Bill Simon had the vast majority of the organization’s
support.
But members believe that having two Republican frontrunners has
not split the organization at all and that there is no need to
split the organization over an endorsement.
“I think if anything, it’s united them because most
people don’t like Davis and that’s the primary aim: to
get Davis out of office,” Riha said.
“I think if either Schwarzenegger or McClintock won, (the
group would) be happy. They wouldn’t if Bustamante got the
office, but it doesn’t look like that will be the
case,” he added.
Among the Bruin Republicans, the more conservative members have
decided to back McClintock, whereas those who consider themselves
more moderate have sided with Schwarzenegger.
Regardless of the California Republican Party’s
endorsement of Schwarzenegger, McClintock’s supporters
believe that he holds a more conservative Republican stance than
Schwarzenegger, who they say may be a Republican in name only.
“McClintock is the real conservative in the race. I think
he represents what we need to help California and get us back on
track,” Reinicke said.
However, others in the group say Schwarzenegger’s stances
on issues mirror Republican views as much as McClintock’s
do.
“On about 90 percent of the issues, Arnold has the same
views that I do. (Schwarzenegger and McClintock are) both
Republicans when it’s all said and done,” said
fourth-year political science student Scott Latchem, also a member
of Bruin Republicans.
Other Republican-leaning students who identified more with
McClintock said they would vote for the more moderate
Schwarzenegger so a Republican would be in office.
“I’m hearing that from a lot of people … that
they’ll vote for Schwarzenegger because they feel their vote
will be wasted (if they vote for McClintock),” said
second-year political science student Jon English, who did not
claim any political party affiliation but was leaning toward voting
for Schwarzenegger.