Posted on 02/26/2006 8:42:18 PM PST by calcowgirl
SAN JOSE — Four years ago, in the month before Election Day, representatives of Republican statewide candidates met with Gerald Parsky, President Bush's state campaign chief and the designated custodian of the party's checkbook, to learn what resources would be coming their way.
One of the political strategists who was there recalls being startled by Parsky's decision: Dollars for everyone else, but pennies for Sen. Tom McClintock, the GOP candidate for controller.
When challenged on that decision, said the strategist, who asked not to be identified, Parsky held firm: For McClintock, there would be only crumbs.
In the end, McClintock got just $330,000 from the state and national parties. In contrast, $1.4 million was lavished on Gary Mendoza, the GOP candidate for insurance commissioner. Arguably, a few hundred thousand dollars more might have put McClintock over the top. He lost by 17,000 votes; Mendoza lost by 350,000.
For most of his quarter-century career in California politics, this has been the Thousand Oaks conservative's Achilles' heel: He's never been able to raise enough money to close the deal with voters.
McClintock has been popular with the grass roots but scorned by the party establishment largely because he has been unable to hold his tongue while criticizing fellow Republicans.
On Saturday, McClintock, 49, sought to close that chapter in his career, delivering the keynote luncheon speech at the state Republican convention and asserting a newfound role of statesman.
Seeking to unite a party divided over some positions of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger that have met with disfavor from conservatives, McClintock invoked the counsel of Ronald Reagan.
"Let us also remember Reagan's wise words that 'anyone who is with you 80 percent of the time is your 80 percent friend, not your 20 percent enemy,'" McClintock said. "I don't agree with my wife on absolutely everything, but I still love her, and I don't agree with the governor on everything, but I still support him."
McClintock did not shy from expressing his views that part company with Schwarzenegger: on balancing the state budget, on the use of borrowing to finance highway projects, on the appointment of Democratic judges, on the governor's support for an increase in the minimum wage.
However, the speech was not quite vintage McClintock. There were no personal barbs.
A dramatic turnaround
It was a dramatic turnaround from the last time a Republican governor, Pete Wilson, was coming up on a tough re-election campaign. Back in 1993 and 1994, McClintock was among Wilson's harshest critics.
He backed an intraparty rebellion and pulled no punches. He even wrote an Op-Ed essay in the Los Angeles Times in which he asserted, "My Persian cat 'could lose the election far more cheaply and far less certainly than Wilson."
Wilson went on to win in 1994, leading a near-sweep of statewide offices for Republicans. There were only two GOP losers that year; one of them was McClintock. Wilson, along with his financial donors, never forgave McClintock for his attacks on the leader of his own party.
McClintock is now running for lieutenant governor, uncontested in the GOP primary and seeking to position himself as Schwarzenegger's running mate on a ticket in which McClintock's conservatism will be a counterweight to Schwarzenegger's moderate views on certain issues. In return, McClintock gets to stand in the reflected light of the governor's movie-star charisma and fundraising prowess.
"They're Oscar and Felix," said Rob Stutzman, who served as Schwarzenegger's communications director until last month, of the odd couple that will top the GOP ticket in the fall.
"Tom's matured politically," Stutzman said. "He gets it."
Democrats assert the fact that Schwarzenegger now needs McClintock to shore up his standing among Republicans is a sign of how far the governor has fallen since the 2003 recall election, when Schwarzenegger and McClintock were both candidates.
"Who would have thought two years ago that Schwarzenegger would have to run for re-election by hanging on to McClintock's boxer shorts," said Democratic campaign adviser Bob Mulholland, now working with the campaign of Treasurer Phil Angelides.
Since the recall, Schwarzenegger has sought to show unity with McClintock conservatives, in part by hosting a 2004 fundraiser in Santa Barbara for the senator, an event that brought in more money than McClintock had ever before raised.
This year, the governor has included McClintock in some small-group meetings with large donors.
Politically potent marriage
The Schwarzenegger-McClintock pairing, many Republicans believe, is a politically potent marriage that will benefit both partners.
McClintock is doing all he can to make sure that, this time, the party establishment doesn't leave him at the altar.
He has become, in many ways, a new Tom McClintock.
"I think we all evolve over time," said Joel Fox, the former head of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, who has known McClintock since he was first elected to the Assembly from Ventura County in 1982. "You can change your style; it doesn't mean you've changed principles."
Jon Fleischman, a former state party executive director who now writes an influential political blog, said McClintock has had to adapt after having been a two-time loser in statewide campaigns.
"When you lose narrowly two times, it causes you to step back and think how you're going to do things differently," Fleischman said. "While the senator isn't any less principled than he has been in past election cycles, he's being more cautious."
Even back home, where relations between McClintock and the county's old-guard Republicans have at times been tense, there has been a mellowing.
"The county party and Tom have become more open to working together," said county Republican Central Committee Chairwoman Leslie Cornejo. "That has not always been the case."
McClintock will be this year's inductee in the county Republican Hall of Fame. When Cornejo visited Sacramento earlier this month to personally invite him, she said McClintock, who in the past has warred with the moderate wing of the county party, was gracious.
"He's putting things in perspective," Cornejo said.
No one suggests that McClintock — a purist's purist on matters of political ideology — has backed off any of his conservative beliefs.
"It's a matter of tone," said GOP political consultant Kevin Spillane. "Perhaps in the past he would have blasted a Republican governor. These days, he's catching a lot more flies."
Not all the scars from McClintock's combative past have yet healed.
Eric Hogue, a conservative talk-show host in Sacramento, was once on close terms with McClintock, who even served as guest host of his radio show from time to time.
But when Hogue endorsed Schwarzenegger over McClintock in the recall, he said, "I became the devil incarnate." McClintock stopped speaking to Hogue, and their relations remain icy more than two years later.
"I took a lot of heat in the recall, because I was one of the early guys to endorse Arnold," Hogue said. "I did so because it was the pragmatic thing to do. 'Now it's nice to see that state Sen. Tom McClintock has found the word 'pragmatic.'"
PING!
McClintock Ping List.
Please freepmail me if you want on or off this list
'Statesmen' uphold principle, no matter the cost.
No matter what 'statesmanlike' actions Tom McClintock might be remembered for when his political life is through, playing footsy with Arnold and his liberal minions will not be among them.
I guess that makes Arnold my 20% friend and the Democrats my 80% enemy.
If you mug someone in a ally and beat them with a rubber hose long enough he may say something to appease the goons...
BTW, did we ever corral Parsky and lock him in a box and send him on a slow boat to China? He's dangerous and a cancer as long as he's running free.
It is all politics. Pushing values and what is best for this country means nothing to the party. The one who is the richest is the one the party wants. Tis a shame.
I voted for McClintock in the primary and walked precincts, etc. The Republicans for the most part couldn't get enough of kissing SchwarznKennedy's rear end. As far as I'm concerned, the Republicans in this state are worthless.
Catching? Me thinks maybe that should be... "attracting!"
I'm completely with you Saundra! You are absolutely RIGHT!!! (sad to say) I'm also getting dismayed with the influx of cynical pragmatism infecting FR to the point where it fatigues the once thriving spirit of Conservatism amongst CA FReepers!!!
The contrast of the "tone" of FR between 1998 when I discovered it and now is becoming more stark every day and it ain't for the better, whatsoever IMO!!!
The adjectives "pragmatic,""moderate," and "mediocre" just kinda all blend together in like a cocktail drawn from a sesspool!!!
What do you expect from Hogue? LOL. Does anyone actually listen to him?
(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.")
Better how? The GOP will get the blame for the resulting financial meltdown. The corporate shills who don't care which party is in power will continue to lock out conservatives. The welfare state will continue to produce more Democrats and empower bureaucrat unions as well.
I don't call that an improvement.
(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.")
Now tell me... How can anyone call themselves a Conservative, or a Republican and especially a FReeper and still support this poor excuse for a Governor anymore???
BTTT
Here's an excerpt from the Mercury News with that snip about Hillary. UGH!
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1586089/posts?page=15#15
As to your question, I hear ya! I read a quote earlier that further demonstrates the absurdity:
“I've never heard of a Republican convention that doesn't believe in a balanced budget,” said Mike Schroeder, a former state Republican Party chairman.
Would a Tom McClintock governorship be worth $100 to you? If every conservative who had more than a hundred bucks to lose if a liberal gets elected had given money to the conservative candidate we wouldn't be in this mess. If conservatives who "don't have time" spent a bit of it on their County Central Committees, would we have better candidates? Don't give me this. Get off your duff and get involved.
Great post. One of your best ever.
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