Tom McClintock thanks to his E-team supporters

Tom McClintock ^ | November 11, 2004

[GOPXtreme20]

Thank You to the E-team

From the bottom of my heart, I want to thank you for everything that you did on my behalf - and on behalf of the other candidates who share our beliefs.

For the nation, there is no question that the result reflects a continuing trend of conservative resurgence across America. In California, although the partisan balance of the legislature remains unchanged, the exit-polling that I've seen indicates that the state's voters remain philosophically more conservative than the votes they are actually casting.

We certainly proved in the 19th Senate District that even in so-called "moderate" coastal district, the voters continue to respond overwhelmingly to our core Republican principles when our positions are clear and unequivocal.

For myself, this is my last legislative race under term limits and I could not have dared to hope for a more gratifying vote. Despite having the second lowest Republican registration of any senate Republican seat up for election this year, our campaign ran more than 19 points ahead of party registration - the largest margin of any senate Republican.

I want to thank you again for your continuing support, and for making my final legislative race such a success.

Best wishes, Tom McClintock

[GOPXtreme20]

Editorial: For 19th District: Tom McClintock
November 1, 2004

Tom McClintock, R-Thousand Oaks, has one four-year term left in the state Senate before he is termed out. The 18-year legislator ran for governor in the historic recall election last year and has twice run for state controller, losing by just 23/100 of 1 percent in 2002. Lieutenant governor or controller are certainly possibilities for the future.

But for the moment, Mr. McClintock, 48, is concentrating on pushing his fiscal reforms in the Legislature. The Star Editorial Board recommends his re-election to the district that includes the Ventura County cities of Thousand Oaks, Simi Valley, Oxnard, Moorpark, Camarllo, Fillmore and Port Hueneme.

Despite record state budget shortfalls and a mostly Democratic Legislature, Mr. McClintock, told The Star Editorial Board: "I have never been more optimistic than I am right now. Change occurs only when the necessity for it finally overcomes our resistance to it. I believe we're fast reaching that point."

In his second term, he said he wants to restore the Gann spending limit so that state spending cannot outstrip inflation and population growth. He also wants to restore the governor's authority to fix budgetary problems in midcourse. If these reforms cannot be accomplished in the Legislature, Mr. McClintock said he wants the people to vote on them.

Since his election to the state Assembly in 1982 and his election to the state Senate in 2000, Mr. McClintock has focused his efforts on ridding government of waste and inefficiency. He has spearheaded a campaign to rebate $1.1 billion in taxes overcollected by the state.

When Pat Brown was governor during the 1960s, Sen. McClintock told the Editorial Board, Californians were willing to invest in the state's future and they got what they paid for. Today, he said state spending is 21/2 times more than it was during Gov. Brown's tenure, adjusted for inflation, yet, Californians receive far less in services.

One of his ideas to streamline government -- a Bureaucracy Realignment and Closure Commission, modeled after the military's Base Realignment and Closure effort -- led to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's California Performance Review. Mr. McClintock said the main CPR flaw is that it relied on bureaucrats to review the bloated state bureaucracy.

He doesn't waver in his convictions and that has contributed to the partisan impasses that have plagued the Legislature. The Star hopes that in a second term, Mr. McClintock would see the wisdom of the occasional give and take as a way to craft needed reforms in the state's budgeting process, workers' compensation and the tort system.

Mr. McClintock is being challenged by high school teacher Paul Graber, 47, of Valencia, a Democrat, who said he decided to run to give voters a choice in this election. Even if Mr. Graber doesn't win in November, he has accomplished his first goal and set a good example for his students. We hope that this race spurs his interest in running for public office again.

Longtime legislators such as Mr. McClintock are rare in Sacramento, due to term limits. Mr. McClintock may be right that these tough budget times have won him a new audience, where his message of fiscal discipline will be heard and acted on.

[Carry_Okie]

McClintock ping.

We certainly proved in the 19th Senate District that even in so-called "moderate" coastal district, the voters continue to respond overwhelmingly to our core Republican principles when our positions are clear and unequivocal.

The district was designed for Democrat domination and McClintock still holds it. So much for "unelectable."

[RockinRight]

McClintock shoulda been governor of California.

[Reagan Man]

"I have always thought that one of the phoniest claims in California politics is that 'I'm a fiscal conservative but a social liberal,' which always invites the question: 'How do you plan to pay for your socially liberal programs with your fiscally conservative policies?'"
-Tom McClintock

[inquest]

McClintock/Tancredo '08

[calcowgirl]

Have you ever heard anyone actually call themselves a "fiscal liberal"?

[Reagan Man]

Well, hmmm...... NO!

[Carry_Okie]

Social liberal policies produce government dependents and therefore more Slave Party voters, higher taxes, and burdensome regulations. These policies fall heaviest on the productive in our society, IOW, usually conservatives.

Electing a RINO is thus a losing proposition for the Republican Party. As Nixon was followed by Carter, or Davis by Wilson. Even when we elected Jerry Brown after Reagan, his policies were so disastrous as to strengthen conservative posisitons.

[hh007]

Sir, you are a great American. Keep us posted on future plans.

[hh007]

Sorry, meant to direct the above post to Tom.

[risk]

Was Tom up for reelection in November 2004? I'm wondering why he calls this his final legislative race. Also, what is he planning next?

[Carry_Okie]

Was Tom up for reelection in November 2004?

Yes he was. IIRC, his district had been redrawn, and not in his favor either. He won anyway.

I'm wondering why he calls this his final legislative race.

Term limits.

Also, what is he planning next?

As I understand it, either Lt. Gov. or Controller again. I've heard that Simon will run for AG.

[SierraWasp]

Well, with the Rove/Parsky/Firestone/Riordan/Wilson/Schwarzenegger cabal controling the purse strings of the CA Repellican Party to the exclusion of the Simon/McClintock efforts... that's given us a "Wall-to-Wall" RINO!!!

Stranger still to this day is all the arguing on here that Tom couldn't win with his sincere personality exactly like Dubya just did across the entire nation. With Party money cut off, it just makes it difficult, but not impossible.

Tom needs to line up the same type of list of industrial/commercial benefactors that Reagan did, (without the danged Indian Gaming Interests) so he can come to the fore even without the main Party backing.

Reagan had to do it and so will Tom. This is a TV campaign state and Tom's sincerity on TV will work if he can find the funding and a great campaign professional.

[tubebender]

I am glad to hear how well Tom did in his district...

[SierraWasp]

Well... Especially after they deliberately tried to redistrict him right out of his own district, for Pete's sake!!!

It's a miracle he even came close to winning, let alone win by the margin he did with all those thousands of Liberal Democrat and Mooooooooderate voters in Barbara Striesand land!!! Think of it!!! It's a beautiful thing!!!

[risk]

Thanks for the background in the past couple of posts. Speaking of party treachery, Bill Jones, Republican candidate for the CA senatorial position that complements Feinstein's, won 4,095,949 votes to put a dent in Barbara Boxer's "mandate" with 38.1% to her 6,195,283 votes (57.6%).

He did this without funding from the RNC, without much money, and to the great surprise of the entire state. He was a decent alternative to the smarmy, anti-American media/congressional blitz that Boxer and her friends have been leading against our unity in this world war.

It's obvious to me that the Democratic party has betrayed its constituents to the point that they're willing to try any reasonable alternative. It's too bad that the RNC has failed to recognize this. It's too bad that they continue to pander to multiculturalists, open border advocacy, ethnic socialism, and so forth.

Californians know that their money has been wasted, their borders are insecure, their communities are heading down a thorn-laden path to third world status, and yet the RNC has made insufficient efforts to help its most conservative candidates.

Now the treasonous talk of loading up Schwarzenegger for a presidential campaign continues apace. The steady drumbeat of unconstitutional ideas never fails to enter the mainstream of our press (from left and right).

Unpin the constitution from its absolute stainless steel grip on our laws and what do you have? Greedy power politics that sway with the wind that dictate our daily lives, our pocketbooks, and the very future of our state. The RNC needs to clean itself up and make itself presentable. It should have supported McClintock better. It should have supported Bill Jones better. It should think about winning what's right for California, not just what looks good on TV.

[GOPXtreme20]

State Senate District 19
Only odd-numbered districts in 2004
100.0% ( 719 of 719 ) precincts reporting as of Nov 13, 2004 at 8:21 pm

Candidate Party Votes Percent

* Tom McClintock Republican 226,225 61.0%

Paul Joseph Graber Democratic 144,800 39.0%

* = Incumbent

[SierraWasp]

"It's obvious to me that the Democratic party has betrayed its constituents to the point that they're willing to try any reasonable alternative."

This statement, in the context you made it, has me wondering what it means to you. Could you expand on your view of this just a little, please? Your FR home page is a little puzzling, as well... Are you into ancient conspiracies???

[risk]

Are you into ancient conspiracies?

Not at all! The Gun Powder plot arguably has bearing on the American Revolution and our Constitution. Religious freedom was utmost on the minds of our founding fathers to a large part because of previous history in England. An example would be the religious oppression of Catholics (and other non-Anglican believers) by King Henry the VIII, which continued until well after the Puritans left for America!

The Gun Powder plot failed, but it is still celebrated today as Guy Fawkes day among Comonwealth nations.

Guy Fawkes

This statement, in the context you made it, has me wondering what it means to you.

I mean that there must be thousands of Zell Miller Democrats in California ready to switch parties.

On California's politics (closer to home), I mean that the RNC and Republican party failed to capitalize on dissatisfaction among traditional Democrats by leaving candidates like Bill Jones unsupported. With TV advertisements and party endorsements, he might have done better. People didn't know who he was since the party machinery didn't get the word out on his campaign.

The T.S. Eliot poem The Hollow Men, quoted in Coppola's Apocalypse Now, was about the Gunpowder Plot conspirators. Apparently, Eliot refers to Conrad's Heart of Darkness by mentioning Kurtz, a character reprised in the film. To me (with much poetic license), the "Hollow Men" are the Ivy League elites who believed we could fight the Vietnam war with new and untried techniques. Susan Huck argues that they didn't want to win. Perhaps not. But isn't such a strategy "hollow?"