Posted on 03/27/2006 12:03:10 AM PST by calcowgirl
The 2006 political season may be creating some California history: a governor and lieutenant governor candidate running for election as a team.
Not just a team in name — the Republican ticket — but in actual operation: coordinated messages, ads and schedules, including joint campaigning in conservative areas.
The governor and lieutenant governor are elected separately in California. And although gubernatorial candidates often give lip service to cooperation, they have always ditched the "running mate" and sprinted off by themselves with their big bucks and own game plan.
But Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and state Sen. Tom McClintock already have been teaming up. Schwarzenegger has been taking McClintock with him to fundraisers and offering him access to deep-pocket contributors. In return, McClintock has been trying to provide the centrist governor with some credibility among conservatives, who regard the senator as their straight-talking hero.
(snip)
The Schwarzenegger-McClintock pairing seems remarkable because the two Republicans couldn't be more opposite, personally and philosophically.
McClintock, 49, is a trim, 6-foot-1 bookworm who loves to quote the Federalist Papers. He's an articulate writer and orator who won't try to fuzz up an issue. And, unlike Schwarzenegger, he's a career politician, first elected to the Legislature at age 26 as a "taxpayer advocate."
Schwarzenegger takes credit for cutting the car tax, but it was McClintock who first made the steep levy a California issue in the late 1990s. He crusaded for its elimination, pressuring Gov. Pete Wilson and the Legislature to gradually reduce the tax. When Gov. Gray Davis ran out of money to balance the budget, he restored the tax to its high level, was smacked by Schwarzenegger and recalled.
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
PING!
McClintock Ping List.
Please freepmail me if you want on or off this list
Watch McClintock get more votes than Arnold.
BUMP
That would be a very positive development.
Tom BUMP!
I consider this a positive development. It should make California Republicans a bit more comfortable to vote for Arnold, too. With all the riffs they've been having, a little stability (which I think McClintock adds) is a good thing.
Not a chance.
If only it was all McClintock. He could turn this state around. If this wasn't such a damn, socially liberal state he would be govenor in a second. He is a talented, intelligent and I think very much the right man for what ails us Californians! He also has clear cut and well defined conservative values across the board.
He would be Governor now if they hadn't shoved Arnold in there at the last minute.
Really. Do you think so? I wish you were right. I really wanted McClintock and I want to see him as Govenor next election. Maybe it is time to throw Arnold to the sharks (In mean back to Hollywood.)
BTTT
The other person who is ruining LA is the Mayor.
Look what he did all weekend to LA.
You can see what side he is on.
Socially lib state? Because of all the Socialist illegals there and the libs. Someone responded to my calling the illegals socialists and said that only europeans can be called socialists...I beg to differ.
Conservatives can only hope that his decision to seek the support of the California Republican Party does not brand him with a scarlet letter and work to his detriment in November.
Nice team. If we're lucky, maybe Tom can teach Arnold conservative principles, and in the process, learn how to win an election.
There will be NO "Broken Glass Republicans" for Arnold this year!!! He's already squandered that political capital...
They need each other to win both races.
I disgree.
Senator McClintock has broad appeal on the right and I suspect his common sense, cautionary suggestions with regard to California's fiscal crisis has appeal in the center and on the left because it represents a mechanism to get California's house in order which will then allow California to get back to it's agenda of social largess.
The Austrian, on the other hand, has little appeal on either side of the aisle as he swings wildly from the center to left while his every action is purposely misrepresented as extreme by the McClatchy and Tribune syndicates.
Following would be a much more accurate statement.
Senator McClintock needs the organization and money of the CRP to be competitive in November. The Austrian needs Senator McClintock's image to encourage conservatives to vote in November, hoping to shave off just enough of those votes to achieve victory.
It is not a marriage made in heaven but one of political pragmatism.
The Austrian can't win in November without McClintock's presence on the combo ticket and the Senator may well loose in November, only because he supported the Austrian.
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