Schwarzenegger To Aid McClintock (Arnold Goes To Bat For Fellow GOPer)

Los Angeles Times ^ | 10/29/03 | Darryl Kelly

[goldstategop]

Republican state Sen. Tom McClintock, who refused to withdraw in favor of GOP front-runner Arnold Schwarzenegger during the recall campaign, is now supported for reelection by the governor-elect and is essentially ceded another term by his chief Democratic rival.

In a gesture of unity, Schwarzenegger offered last week to speak at a fund-raiser for the veteran Thousand Oaks lawmaker, a spokesman for the new governor said Tuesday.

"The election is over, and the time for working together to move California forward is upon us," spokesman H.D. Palmer said.

"Throughout the campaign, [Schwarzenegger] said that Sen. McClintock was a bright individual who brought a lot of constructive ideas on how to control state spending to the debate," Palmer said. "Now, [Schwarzenegger is] gathering support from all members of the Legislature as he moves forward to implement his agenda."

[goldstategop]

Arnold is being a big guy, not a sore loser and he's backing the true conservative - not a RINO. We've been hearing lots of Arnold the RINO-bashing on Free Republic. If this isn't a signal Arnold means to unite our party, I don't know what is. We all agree on the need to control state spending and make our Golden State great again.

[Dead Corpse]

I agree. I'm one of those who was bashing Arnie for being a RINO. This, however, is a classy move. He NEEDS people like McClintock to back him, and to help keep his conservative compass pointed at true north.

[KantianBurke]

"I'm one of those who was bashing Arnie for being a RINO. This, however, is a classy move. He NEEDS people like McClintock to back him, and to help keep his conservative compass pointed at true north."

Bump for agreement

[evad]

If this isn't a signal Arnold means to unite our party, I don't know what is.

I think AHnold means to "try" to unite everyone and in many respects is a true believer.

However, after he's been RAT bitten a few times, he may resort to his terminator roots. Time will tell..I wish Kalifornians the best and hope they get out of their mess soon. He still has that infested legislature to deal with.

[eureka!]

FYI ping....

[flamefront]

Any word on what transpired in the first post-election meeting last week between Dreier and McClintock?

[evad]

<"..conservative compass pointed at true north."

Wouldn't a true conservative compass point to the East..you know, left versus right :) (Just messin' around)

Anyway, bump for agreement on the good move

[FairOpinion]

"McClintock, a conservative, said he has seen nothing so far from Schwarzenegger, a social moderate, that has caused him any concern.

"So far, so good," he said."

[GraniteStateConservative]

Cockroaches don't do much when the lights are on-- and Arnold brings some serious sunshine around wherever he goes. Every one of them know they'd be as unemployed as Davis right now if that had been an option on Oct. 7. They've already gotten stagefright at facing off against him-- declining to approve some last minute appointments of Davis and such. Even had Tom won, he wouldn't have the media spotlight Arnold brings with him. The legislature would have ignored him and blamed him and the media would have played along.

[evad]

Even had Tom won, he wouldn't have the media spotlight Arnold brings with him. The legislature would have ignored him and blamed him and the media would have played along.

Good points...that along with the line item veto should help AHnold pare this bunch back. I just keep in mind that he will dealing with the most virulent bunch of enviro wackos, RATus infecti politico and leftist agenda groups in history.

[Carry_Okie]

It's a good move. Arnold needs Tom's input on the dynamics in the State Senate. There are few Republicans with as much experience in fighting with reckless spending.

[tom h]

I have met multiple liberal Democrats who are not ideological who voted for Arnold because he is a unifier and because he is untainted by special interests. We need to recognize that such is why he won. McClintock would never have received those votes. Let Arnold be Arnold because this is what put the office in Republican hands. If the only solution he accomplishes that is conservative is a fiscal solution, so be it. That is the state's most pressing problem anyway. And he might well be the reason why we have a state sweep of Assembly and Senate offices in Nov 2004.

[B Knotts]

I can't prove it, but I suspect that there was an agreement between Tom and Arnold towards the end of the campaign. Tom stays in, drawing his voters to the polls to vote for the recall, but doesn't attack Arnold, and Arnold wins, and gives some attention to some of Tom's issues.

[B Knotts]

Yes, but consider that he is dealing with the envirowackos with a backdrop of the wildfires, especially if it turns out that any of the fires were started by ELF or their ilk.

[John Jorsett]

I guess this means there isn't going to be a spot for McClintock in the A.S. administration. I was kind of hoping he'd get Steve Peace's job, but oh well. He'll still have a valuable role in the State Senate.

[RedBloodedAmerican]

Would Tom have done the same for anyone else had he been elected? Doubt it.

Seems he was pretty self centered, looking out for #1 during his campaign bid. Glad he's gone, IMO he's dangerous. One issue politicians are wacky.

[evad]

...envirowackos with a backdrop of the wildfires, especially if it turns out that any of the fires were started by ELF or their ilk.

Yeah, wouldn't it be great if that proves to be the case.

I know the fire is a tragedy but how fortuitous that if it had to happen it happens when they have a govenator that will do something about it and a legislature that fears him.

[StoneColdGOP]

Hey, I'll give Mr. Schwarzenegger credit for this, he's certainly extending the olive branch and it's good of him.

Had to love this though:

Meanwhile, Assemblywoman Hannah-Beth Jackson (D-Santa Barbara) said she would not run against McClintock, because the 19th Senate District became heavily Republican during the Legislature's 2001 redistricting process.

"My decision not to run is based upon the fact that the district was designed for Mr. McClintock's incumbency … to ensure the reelection of the right-wing incumbent," Jackson said.

Right... Hannah, let's not forget that YOUR Assembly District was designed for YOU and your Democrat successor's incumbency... to ensure the reelection of a left-wing incumbent!

[dpwiener]

Here are more details from the Ventura Star newspaper:

Jackson won't run for '04 Senate seat

Democrat cites redistricting plan

By Timm Herdt, therdt@ VenturaCountyStar.com
October 29, 2003

Assemblywoman Hannah-Beth Jackson, saying that California's redistricting plan has made it impossible for anyone except a Republican to win in the new 19th Senate District, said Tuesday she will not challenge Sen. Tom McClintock, R-Thousand Oaks, next year.

Jackson, D-Santa Barbara, will be termed out of the Assembly at the end of 2004 and it had been widely speculated that she would run against McClintock in a Senate district that now stretches up the coast from Thousand Oaks to take in the city of Ventura and much of Santa Barbara County.

But Jackson said the political reality of the new districts, designed to protect the incumbent parties, makes it impossible for a Democrat to win.

Republicans have a 43 percent to 36 percent edge in voter registration in the district.

"It was a tough decision," she said, "but the district was designed to ensure the re-election of the right-wing Republican incumbent."

When the redistricting plan was put before the Legislature in 2001, Jackson was one of a handful of Assembly Democrats to vote against it.

In the Senate, former Sen. Jack O'Connell, who represented much of the area at the time, also voted no.

The old coastal district, which had been represented by Democrats for decades, fell victim to California's demographic changes, which have seen large population increases in more politically conservative inland suburbs.

When Santa Barbara and Ventura were put in the same district as Thousand Oaks and Simi Valley, the Republican inland voters far outnumbered the plurality of Democrats along the coast.

Jackson said she does not know what she will do after her Assembly term ends, but looks forward to her final year freed from the demands of political fund-raising.

Had she run, the contest would have been one of the most expensive in the state.

Jackson said she expects some Democrat will file for the office before the filing period closes Nov. 5.

As a practical matter, her decision virtually assures McClintock's re-election.

That will have significant statewide implications, as it will free Republican political resources to be spent in other districts, making it more likely they will cut into the 25-15 Democratic majority in the Legislature's upper house.

[DoctorZIn]

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