Here were our choices:
1. Sitting Governor that had taken us from a balanced budget to a (somewhere around) $37 billion bugdet deficit in five years and to the verge of fiscal collapse, and had signed a bill giving illegal aliens the right to driver's licenses.
2. A well qualified conservative state Senator that was about 10% in the polls.
3. A brown separatist Lt. Governor that was about as liberal as it gets.
4. Arnold Scwarzenegger, arguably a liberal by most standards, yet with possible bright spots here and there.
I know a lot of people like to think this was a case of being 'star struck', but there was only one option IMO.
You got that right. Until the Republican party supports a McClintock it is crazy to think CA dems would. His own party abandoned him first.
Cedric, I also wanted to note that California is not as liberal as most folks think. If a guy like Simon can come that close with limited resources, it says a lot about the true make-up of the state.
When your sitting dem governor has advertising across the media platform, and you can't afford to run your own, it's a sinch the governor is going to benefit quite a bit.
It's hard to get the message out and frame the debate with no funding.
If McClintok was backed by his own party, not sabotaged because he was "too conservative for them" he would have won!
The mantra that "A vote for McClintok will put Bustamonte in" was started by the RNC so they could justify their support for the RINO Rnold !
Those hoping for another movie star government official bought it as the RNC knew they would!
This swill has been debunked endlessly by FReeper Carry_Okie.