Impossible to know the circumstances. How do you get a total electrical failure? If the battery dies, the alternator should supply power, and vice versa, so maybe there were multiple problems which required a landing asap?
In my aircraft, with a total electrical failure, the engine will quit, since both fuel pumps are electrically operated. This is not the case in the Arrow, as far as I know, where the main fuel pump is engine-driven, but further emphasises the point that you mustn't make assumptions or generalisations.
You mention bad weather. Was he IFR? Was the weather such that it would have been inadviseable to continue without electrics because he couldn't navigate properly? From your brief description, this sounds like the most likely explaination to me, but who knows.
But yes, I agree with you - if I had a complete electrical failure, but all other systems were ok, and the weather was such that I could navigate visually, going to an airfield which regularly accepts non-radio traffic is probably the best bet in most cases.
FFF
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