Posted on 09/09/2007 1:45:52 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
One of California's leading conservatives delivered a public slap at Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Sunday, two days after the celebrity governor called for the Republican Party to move to the political center or risk a future of irrelevance.
Sen. Tom McClintock never mentioned the governor by name, but his speech to GOP activists at a state convention was thick with transparent digs at Schwarzenegger and referenced remarks the governor made last week.
On Friday, the governor declared that the GOP was "dying at the box office" and would drift into the political margins unless it tackles issues like global warming to attract new voters, especially from the growing ranks of independents.
The governor describes himself as a "post-partisan" who wants to bridge the political divide that often leaves the state capital of Sacramento gridlocked. He has cut deals with Democrats in the Legislature to curb global warming, provide low-cost prescription drugs and boost the minimum wage with only a sprinkle of Republican votes.
McClintock, R-Thousand Oaks, warned of policies that would "devastate California under the empty banner of post-partisanship." He predicted Californians would not flock to a party that is "a pale, post-partisan reflection of the Democrats."
"We don't need to redefine our principles, we need to return to them," McClintock told cheering activists.
"We can win some short-term victories by compromising our philosophy for political expediency," McClintock said. "But a party that does that soon discovers it has ceased to be a party at all."
Adam Mendelsohn, a Schwarzenegger spokesman, said McClintock misunderstood the intent of the governor's remarks.
"Gov. Schwarzenegger was advocating Republican solutions," Mendelsohn said. "We cannot continue to ignore the issues Californians care about."
McClintock's speech capped a weekend convention that spotlighted deep divisions between the party's conservative and moderate wings. On Saturday, party Chairman Ron Nehring steered around questions on Schwarzenegger's assessment of the party's future.
Republicans at the convention also endorsed a proposed ballot initiative to change the way the state awards electoral votes in presidential contests, a plan the governor has questioned.
Like most states, California awards all its electoral votes to the statewide winner in presidential elections. Under the ballot proposal, the statewide winner would get only two electoral votes. The rest would be distributed to the winning candidate in each of the state's congressional districts.
That would create 53 races, each with one electoral vote up for grabs. President Bush carried 22 of those districts in 2004, while losing the statewide vote by double digits.
The so-called Presidential Election Reform Act, if it qualifies for the ballot and is approved by voters, could shift those votes into the GOP column in 2008 and potentially alter the outcome of the race.
Only Maine and Nebraska allocate electoral votes by congressional district.
It would be nice to see California Republicans unite around the idea of winning elections.
McClintock REALLY wants to save California. He figures the best way to do that is to stay in California politics.
“Gov. Schwarzenegger was advocating Republican solutions,” Mendelsohn said. “We cannot continue to ignore the issues Californians care about.”
Translation: Carbon Credit Trading markets are “markets” and thereby conservative or republican or etc. etc.
Arnold is pushing hard for this inevitably criminal trading scheme.
This is what baffles me about the anointment of Rudy Giuliani as the presumptive GOP nominee. At least Arnold is basically Austrian in economic matters.
BUMP that!
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
“That would create 53 races, each with one electoral vote up for grabs. President Bush carried 22 of those districts in 2004, while losing the statewide vote by double digits.”
That would certainly be great for Republicans. Why did Arnold object?
McClintock is one maybe a few (<4) politicians who not only says things that are sane, but actually seems to understand what the average Joe and Jane do in their daily lives. I think he needs to leave Kalifornia and move somewhere he can get elected to the US Senate.
PING!
McClintock Ping List.
Please freepmail me if you want on or off this list
I'm not finding anything that "derided" Schwarzenegger in the AP quotes. Disagreeing with Schwarzie's misdirected liberalism and stating the obvious is now considered ridicule?
On Saturday, party Chairman Ron Nehring steered around questions on Schwarzenegger's assessment of the party's future.
That is very disappointing. Following in the footsteps of Dufus Sundheim?
No, he wasn't. Please look at the record again. He accomplished a whole slew of leftist actions, long before the ballot initiatives. Land grabs, record spending, unconstitutional debt (until he changed the constitution), leftist appointments, etc. His environmental policy and global warming nonsense was written by RFKjr (another "good man"?) before he was even elected. He blamed the ballot initiative losses on conservatives as an excuse to continue implementing his leftist agenda--nothing more.
Thanks!
the governator’s more plausible when he’s
slapping bonnie garcia’s butt.
Part of the reason Schwartzenkennedy lost those ballot initiatives was his fiscal liberalism.
Had Arnold been an real "fiscal conservative" concerned about the state dolling out unnecessary funds, he would have simply waited a few more months until an ACTUAL election to place well-written, concrete reform measures on the ballot.
Instead, he wasted billions in taxpayers money on YET ANOTHER "special election" to rush out a bunch of half-a$$ed quickly written proposals (some of which amounted to rearranging deck chairs on the Titantic), and then spent billions more to try and drag people out to the polls during a non-campaign season to vote on his "reforms", and it blew up in his face. When it comes to GOTV, California Dems (and their special interests) far outnumber California Republican, and Arnold was an idiot not to see it.
He's spent most of the last year apologizing for his idiocy. That's commendable, except Arnold doesn't realize that having change by referendum votes was a good idea on paper, but his execution of the plan was completely flawed.
It's good to see McClintock calling Arnie on his liberalism. Now Tom needs to admit to HIS voters that he too, erred in 2006, when he cast his lot with Arnie and finally drunk the "RINOs will deliever the state to the rest of the party" kool-aid. It's never been true, not in 1998, not in 2002, not in 2003, and certainly not in 2006. RINOs "deliever" for NOBODY but the left.
Time to come to terms with that, Tom. You were spot on about it in 2003.
The only place Tom has lead is over a cliff into obscurity.
Considering that the Austrian's first dalliance into California politics was the promotion of Prop 49 and his first, official, campaign speech as a gubernatorial candidate stressed the preservation and expansion of social programs (our programs), it's difficult to attribute the remark in reply #12 to anything but a profound ignorance of California's recent political history ... unless the author is a liberal.
Day of the Locust, baby...
Spot on!!
Until and unless the Senator has a come to Jesus moment with his constituents regarding his recent capitulation to the dark side, he will remain faintly tainted as just another political whore in the same vein as the Austrian.
Few blame the Senator, the pressure applied by the Wilsonegger Gang, Sundheim and his party apparatchiks and the CAGOP's New Majority financiers was tremendous, but a public acknowledgment of the obvious would clear the air and make his current observations more credible.
lol, you prefer massive debt and borrowing?
whatever
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