By Cheryl Felicia Rhoads

LOS ANGELES, Sept. 4 (UPI) -- I am a pro-life conservative Republican, and I support Arnold Schwarzenegger for governor.

A non-actor, state Sen. Tom McClintock, a Republican who also wants to be governor, and his conservative supporters love to suggest a comparison to the story in the movie Seabiscuit.

This leaves me feeling like Cher in Moonstruck, admonishing an infatuated Nicholas Cage to "Snap out of it!" Even though, as fans of this 1987 film know, Cage does win Cher's heart, I cannot help but believe that McClintock supporters are living in their own screenplay if they think their man can win ... with or without a horse.

I've seen Nicolas Cage ... and I've seen conservatives lose statewide races with good lines and bad delivery again and again. Believe me, McClintock is no Nicolas Cage, or for that matter, Seabiscuit.

Not to press the point too hard, but the best film comparison is the 1960 version of H.G. Wells' The Time Machine. The hero is a time-traveler who battles the cannibalistic Morlocks -- who cannot stand light -- in an underground cave. He has only one lit match, yet he prevails, leading a suffering people out of the darkness.

Ironically, the recall effort began because of the darkness in California. The power crisis illuminated the failures of the Davis administration. Now we must turn to Schwarzenegger -- the only lit match who can deliver the state from Davis' clutches.

Many on the right are suspicious of Schwarzenegger's conservative credentials on issues that push their buttons. But this race is not about those issues, not to give them short shrift, because they do matter.

As to my own bona fides, my late mother was for Robert Taft -- not Ike -- in the 1950s presidential primaries. A decade later I was a Goldwater Girl, selling Goldwater soda pop door to door even before I sold Girl Scout cookies and Campfire candy.

Am I thrilled with all of Arnold's views? No. But I don't have to be.

The current moral confusion that has crept into our society has come slowly and steadily. It will not, for all the hopes of some, be expunged in the wink of an eye or in the bang of a judge's gavel. On those issues one governor, even in the biggest state in the union, can only make a difference on the margins.

But there are things than can change quickly. The Davis-Bustamante regime is smothering businesses, alienating car owners and production companies. These issues can be addressed overnight but not if California Republicans devour their own and ensure that the state is handed back on a platter to Democrats.

Conservative purists only help their opponents when they marginalize themselves. The "my way or the highway" conservatives, those who would rather be right 100 percent of the time than win an election and make incremental gains, need to take stock of what they believe and what they really want for California.

-- Cheryl Felicia Rhoads is an actress and political activist in Los Angeles.

-- United Press International's "Outside View" commentaries are written by outside contributors who specialize in a variety of important issues.
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