Schwartzenegger's meeting with Tom McClintock...
I totally missed it, so I'm just guessing... but was this in the Fall of 2005...???
Posted on 02/20/2006 3:21:04 PM PST by calcowgirl
SACRAMENTO - Typically in California, candidates for governor and lieutenant governor don't campaign as running mates -- but you would never guess it by watching Republicans Arnold Schwarzenegger and Tom McClintock lately.
The 2006 campaign is still young, but Schwarzenegger, the incumbent governor seeking an uncertain re-election, and McClintock, a state senator from Ventura County running for lieutenant governor, look very much like a tag team.
Personal friendship -- and political necessity -- have forged an alliance between the two that mirrors a presidential-vice presidential slate, with each shoring up the other's weaknesses.
Schwarzenegger helps boost McClintock's visibility and fund-raising ability. McClintock, in turn, has recently rushed in to aid Schwarzenegger by tamping down trouble from his right flank.
"There is a mutual-needs society going on here," said veteran Democratic strategist Kam Kuwata. "One guy has the bottle of milk. The other guy has the glass. You need both to drink the milk."
It wasn't always this way.
Just three years ago, the pair competed to replace Gov. Gray Davis in the recall election.
McClintock was the sometimes bristly, uncompromising conservative who won over many Californians with his principles, even though his social views were out of sync with many voters. Schwarzenegger was the charismatic moderate, who took the state by storm with his unique brand of star power, fiscal conservatism and social liberalism.
Schwarzenegger was elected with more than 48 percent of the vote, while McClintock received almost 14 percent.
A few months later, McClintock wrote the ballot arguments against the Schwarzenegger-sponsored Propositions 57 and 58, a bond-and-balanced-budget package. He thought the measures would allow lawmakers to postpone tough budget choices.
But time and perhaps political expediency appear to have healed all wounds.
The men are said to have developed a warm friendship. And they appear tighter than ever as the California Republican Party convention in San Jose approaches this weekend.
"Together, they are greater than the sum of their individual political parts," said Republican political consultant Dan Schnur. "Schwarzenegger may not have picked a running mate like he would have in a presidential campaign, but McClintock provides him the same balance that a running mate would."
But will a ticket approach fly in a state where voters view the offices as so separate that they frequently elect governors and lieutenant governors from opposing parties in the same election? It's hard to say. Past legislative efforts to have the two statewide officers run as a slate have gone nowhere.
Same-party candidates for governor and lieutenant governor here mainly do their own thing. They may team up at conventions and scattered events, but their campaigns are distinct.
So far, this year is an aberration.
The two men have separate campaign arms, but "they are running as a de facto ticket," said GOP consultant Kevin Spillane.
The coming months will tell whether the alliance is short term or more lasting.
"Gov. Schwarzenegger and Sen. McClintock are good friends," said Steve Schmidt, the campaign manager for the governor's re-election effort. "Sen. McClintock will be the Republican nominee for lieutenant governor. They're going to work together during the campaign. No two running mates ever agree on every issue, but Gov. Schwarzenegger is pleased to have Tom McClintock beside him."
McClintock, whose profile was raised in the 2003 recall, is usually a weak fund-raiser who has come oh-so-close to winning the state controller's office -- only to fail twice. This year could be his last real shot at winning a statewide post.
Schwarzenegger, a prodigious fund-raiser, helped McClintock amass about $500,000 for his 2004 Senate race. This year, McClintock has been invited to meet-and-greets with well-heeled Schwarzenegger donors.
The governor could also help generate publicity for McClintock and earn him crossover appeal with independents and Democrats. If the governor solidly wins re-election, McClintock and other Republican candidates for statewide office could ride his coattails.
"If it's a bad year for Schwarzenegger, it's kind of hard to see how McClintock would win anyway," said Claremont McKenna College political scientist Jack Pitney, a former Republican policy analyst. "If it's a good year for Schwarzenegger, the alliance could work to McClintock's benefit."
After last year's disastrous special election, which alienated many Democrats, independents and dispirited conservatives, Schwarzenegger could use a boost too.
The governor recently faced an uprising from some members of his party's right wing -- an attempt to have the GOP revoke its endorsement of Schwarzenegger unless he dumped his new Democratic chief of staff. The insurgency threatened to overshadow the coming convention.
McClintock, revered as an icon in some California conservative circles, had the governor's back.
The senator sent a missive in support of Schwarzenegger to 1,400 convention delegates and signed on to another, similar letter from GOP candidates for statewide office. He recently arranged a conference call with the influential California Republican Assembly, whose members were agitating to yank the governor's endorsement. McClintock also attended a closed-door meeting last week at the Sacramento Hyatt among Schwarzenegger, his campaign team and the county GOP leaders.
The long-shot push to rescind the endorsement died down, and McClintock was a "linchpin" in restoring the peace, one of the governor's aides said.
McClintock's reputation for being unwavering in his beliefs could also rub off on Schwarzenegger, who has been criticized for zigging and zagging left and right.
The strategy, though, carries some risk. If the public associates them as a team, either man could suffer if the other bungles.
McClintock -- both revered and scorned for his loner nature -- could lose credibility if he's seen as compromising his principles to elevate Schwarzenegger.
Thus far, he's avoided that trap. Earlier this year, McClintock made their differences clear -- the governor's budget proposal, he said, "digs a bigger hole" in the state's finances.
Still, "I will do everything I can to see that this governor is re-elected," McClintock said recently. "And I'll do everything I can to offer alternatives when I disagree with specific proposals."
There's also a chance that opponents could try to use some of McClintock's views -- opposition to abortion, for example -- to tar Schwarzenegger as he tries to win over moderates and independents. But pro-choice Californians could always split the ticket.
Most analysts think the risks are few, and the dividends could be ample.
"We've always said we were the Big Tent party, and that's true," said veteran Republican strategist Ken Khachigian, who was President Reagan's chief speechwriter. Plus, "the closer you get to elections, the more pragmatic people get."
I hear ya. I'm not throwin' Tom overboard as I can see the tough spot he's in.
Some of his statements have just been way over the top, though.
That sickens me a bit and he loses some credibility in the process.
Well, that ought to go over well with the conservative base.
And: "...the closer you get to elections, the more pragmatic people get."
Only those people who were party-above-principle GOP/RNC/CAGOP/New Majority Big Tenters to begin with. They are compromisers to whom winning is everything and no principle is too important that it cannot be risen above (i.e., dumped over the side) in the interest of winning.
That about sums it up. I wish there were some alternative, but I'm not going to jump off a cliff just to teach Arnie a lesson.
Thanks for the ping...
Looks like they're shoring up the conservative base. Something Arnold will be unable to do alone - he just tends to swing a little to the left.
For somebody not in California, you see things pretty clearly. Great Holy Tamales, how soon these principles-over-pragmatism prima donna "conservatives" forget that the alternative to Schwartzenegger (there's no way, sadly, that McClintock could have gotten enough votes to win, and folks can deny this until they're blue in the face but it doesn't alter the math) was Cruz Bustamonte.
EXCUSE ME! Bustamonte would have done far, FAR more damage to California than RINO Arnold in our worst nightmare. A Bustamonte victory would very likely also have seriously damaged Bush's reelection bid in 04 because of said damage to our state -- California's economy is one of the largest in the world, and though it ain't gangbusters now because of liberals and regulation and whatnot, it would be WORSE with Bustamonte at the helm, yet who would have gotten the blame for an ailing American economy dominated by an ailing California? Bush.
What really, really ticked me off to the point of downright disgust and contempt for so-called "principled" conservatives is that so many failed to vote in the special election. Schwarzenegger gave California conservatives a chance to start a hairline crack in the stranglehold Liberals have in this state with several of his propostions. But NO, that wasn't good enough for "princpled" conservatives, they stayed home, and the propositions lost by in some places thin margins. I wouldn't have blamed Arnold if he'd just said "to hell with you" and split. You're right -- these "CRUZ BUSTAMONTE IS BETTER THAN A RINO" conservatives are a big part of why this state is in such a sorry state, yet they continuously whine and blame everybody else they can think of.
Hey you guys -- California didn't get this liberal overnight, and it ain't going to heal itself overnight, either. I always liked Tom McClintock, wanted to vote for him over Arnold but realized that it would be a vote for Bustamonte. Now, McClintock is even better in my eyes. He realizes what the so-called "principled" do not: that changing California for the better is going to take time and compromise.
As far as I was concerned during the Davis recall, and as far as I am concerned now, these "princpled" folks only have principles regarding their own pride and pig-headedness.
The GUb may well win, but he will not likely get as many republican and conservatives votes as will Tom. sad but true.
we can not afford to keep him but have this specter of the alternative held over us if a dem wins.
If ya look at the spending and social side of things and his appointments record, I frankly don't see a vast difference between him and a dem.
Have at it!
Sad, but true!
Trying hard to win a popularity contest on an independent, conservative forum eh? I'm guessing the Finny account was opened on FR because no partisan, moderate forums existed in 2002. Any guesses why?
Tried counseling? That's a lot of hate.
Note to CRP leadership: This approach will not win more voters. Need new talking points.
I still won't vote for Arnie.
Unfortunately his partisan recommendations aren't.
BTTT
Could you please include me in your ping list?
Thanks
Arnold knows he needs McClintock to bring out the base for him. It will probably work but I won't vote for him.
LOLOL.. I just love bait and switch. Karma in action.
I love how Tom will get to eat his cake and stuff some up the Gub's nose as well after the election, some 'wedding' ticket celebration. ;-)
Tom will get elected by the base and the base will reject the Gub. It doesn't matter if Pussface Phil or "Go" Westly are elected, their options are limited as too how much they will be able to get done. Most of the major damamge has alrady been done by a guy with an R by his name.
This state has survived dem Gubs before and will again.
That's why aRnie did as much as he could the first year and continued in his 2nd year, appointing lefties by the bushelful to the courts and state positions, borrowing like there is no tomorrow to pay back his biggest boosters, sticking it to mountain folks with his Sierra Nevada conservancy bill signing, signing legislation that banned the BMG 50, signing more domestic partnmers legislation than Davis even wuld have considered.
I just don't think this state can afford 4 more years of such a "staunch Republican much less conservative" action figure.
Tom gets the #2 slot to pontificate from, he's presides over the state Senate, the dems retain control overall but won't have enough votes to raise taxes as the Pubbies will still have enough presence to stop any major funding increases (something the current Gub didn't have a problem doing for some reason, spending more more more) or new taxes.
Bring on 2010.. :)
Bravo! Facts with straight talk.
(Denny Crane: "I Don't Want To Socialize With A Pinko Liberal Democrat Commie. Say What You Like About Republicans. We Stick To Our Convictions. Even When We Know We're Dead Wrong.")
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