Posted on 07/22/2003 9:58:07 PM PDT by RonDog
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. . . . Dear Bill,. . . . Tomorrow you will face the most important decision in your political life: to run, or NOT to run in the recall election to replace Gray Davis.
. . . . Please do NOT run.
. . . . In fact, I contend that your duty to your Party and your duty to your State demand MUCH STRONGER action from you. I sincerely believe that you need to act BOLDLY (amazing your friends, and confounding your enemies) by endorsing Darrell Issa for Governor of California - NOW, before the recall election even begins.
. . . . You had your shot, last year. You fought the good fight, and proved to the world that you were a worthy contender. But you lost.
. . . . Perhaps some day in the future, you can WIN. Serving as California's Attorney General would provide a MARVELOUS opportunity to sharpen your political skills. If you run THIS time, however, you will split the CONSERVATIVE vote, and almost certainly enable a NON-conservative (or worse) to win.
. . . . Just as Rudy Giuliani and President Bush campaigned for you in YOUR election, as the leader of the California Republican Party, YOU need to campaign aggressively for Congressman Issa - who has EARNED the right to run unopposed in THIS election, by his early (and aggressive) support for the Recall effort.
. . . . I am posting THIS "open letter" on the conservative news forum FreeRepublic.com, so that OTHER passionate, convervative, "grassroots" activists here can share THEIR thoughts. Some comments which will be posted here may be foolish, and some obtuse - but as a GROUP, we represent a CONSIDERABLE cross-section of "ground troops" who will shape the direction this impending political earthquake which will recall Gray Davis.
. . . . Your friend,
. . . . RonDog. . . . P.S. - I did NOT sign the PREVIOUS "open letter" to you (primarily because no one ever asked me) but I **did** campaign for you (and AGAINST Gray Davis) in the General Election as intensely as I was able.
. . . . For the record, I represent neither Free Republic, nor "Team Simon" - nor ANY OTHER organization. The opinions expressed here are mine alone.
10 - If you run, and we LOSE (again!) - you will be TOAST (politically) - forever.And, the NUMBER ONE reason why Bill Simon should endorse Darrell Issa:9 - If you DON'T run, and we WIN - you will be the HERO. (Mothers will name their children after you.)
8 - If you DON'T run, and we LOSE - you MAY still live (politically) to "fight another day."
7 - The RATs will NEVER expect the "stupid party" to exhibit party discipline. ("Shock and AWE!")
6 - The time to get into THIS race was three months ago, when we REALLY needed your support, not now.
5 - The RATs cannot use their "sore loser/stolen election" issue if you do not run.
4 - Patton was right: "There can be no substitute for victory."
3 - Franklin was right: "We must all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang separately."
2 - Spock was right: "The needs on the Many outweigh the needs of the Few - or the One."
1 - Barry Goldwater was right:"In your heart, you know it's RIGHT."
We SALUTE you, Bill Simon!Now, please show us that you are the kind of "stand up" guy that we all KNOW that you can be, and put aside your PERSONAL ambition for the good of the PEOPLE of California - and endorse Darrell Issa!
YOUR day will come.
On the bright side, I don't think Issa really has much traction. My wild guess is that it will be McClintock versus Simon as the front runners, in which case, the choice is an easy one.
Of course in a splintered GOP field, a creditable Dem will win, assuming one, and only one, runs, assuming Davis is recalled.
Stay tuned
My preference is Tom McClintock. I do hope he runs...I had the pleasure of listening to Shawn Steele last week at "ATF Night" in Culver City.
As the immediate Past President of the California Republican Party, he has a fairly good grasp on the "inside game" - and he believes that Tom McClintock will NOT run, as he just does not have the massive amounts of money that will be required to run an EXTREMELY SHORT (roughly eight week long) campaign.Shawn believes that THREE (3) men have the money and the EGO to run - regardless of what ANYBODY else tells theem:
Bill SimonDarrell Issa has been the 'point man" on this Reacll effort since almost Day One, and he has people EVERYWHERE. (I know, because **I** am ALMOST everywhere that a good conservative activist ought to be, and I have seen them.)
Darrell Issa, and
Arnold.
IMHO, Arnold DOES have the ego to run - whether or not it will be good for the PEOPLE.Bill Simon is the only one of the three who can execute this "shock and awe" strategy. He has the CHARACTER to reign in his ego - for the good of the Party - once we realizes that "his" grassroots support came from those of us who supported the MOVEMENT, but not necessarily the MAN.
He WAS our candidate, because he won the primary - but many of us will NOT support him as aggressively now.To be brutally honest, I subscribe to the injunction attributed to Vince Lombardi after HIS team lost a big game:
"We're not going to lose with the same faces TWICE."
He'll try to anticipate which will become TopDog and start his usual smear campaign. As he does that, the others will tackle him or ignore him, driving his crew nuts, spending all their money and not being able to do what he does best when up against only one candidate, or even two.
His smearing gets defeated along with his corruptedness. We both know his only chance for success against the momentum already against him is to isolate and smear.
In this unique recall/replacement campaign, the usual "narrowing the field" against this incumbent will not work nearly as well. Give it some thought, will ya? That is unless you've already got some vested interest in Issa. If that's the case, forget get my suggestion.
He must definitely be leaning towards a run. I am sure he and other Republicans want to see if any credible Democrat runs. If the Democrats stick to their word (hah!), and don't run a serious candidate, I'd expect McClintock, Simon, and virtually every other Republican out there to run. This in of itself could defeat the recall, as Davis would be able to campaign against the three ring circus of Republicans that will likely spend as much time attacking each other as Davis.
He also seemed to have the moderate and conservative wings of the party fairly unified. He'd present a measure of stability. It would be fairly easy for voters to replace a lousy governor with a good one. It is a different story when voters are asked to replace the devil they know with the one they don't.
Age wise.. he's 75. A spring chicken, compared to Mondale and Lautenberg. Probably all academic, as I doubt he'd run unless the California Republican Party asked him to. And as you know, the CA GOP isn't known for making rational decisions.
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