TOM MCCLINTOCK DAILY - 8/14/03

[Rabid Dog]

Please post any news and published views from your local area or national here. No RINO ARNIE/UNELECTABLE TOM rants please.

[Rabid Dog]

I think all of Tom's supporters know what an uphill battle it is against Arnie's machine. I'm doing it for two reasons:

1. I like and support Tom
2. What happens if Arnie implodes? Lots of people want him destroyed and it may happen. Then what to the Republican's do? Don't want to be all my eggs in one basket until the day of election.

[kellynla]

Thanks for the ping! I shall tape. I see McClintock has hired Lyn Nofziger. And Aunold has hired Warren Buffett(big Democrat donor). Riordan is upset with Aunold for running. Well, what comes around goes around. Riordan convinced O'Malley(owner of the Dodgers) to spend one million dollars on an environmental study to build a NFL stadium and then turned around and stabbed O'Malley in the back by then throwing his support for an NFL team at the coliseum. O'Malley found out about it via the television. Riordan never bothered to call O'Malley. Next item, according to Bob Novak's column this am, Aunold had left Riordan with the idea that he would not run for governor up and until the day he was to appear on Jay Leno's "Tonight Show." According to the column, Novak leaves the impression that Aunold thought Riordan's elevator was not going to the top floor. Only 54 days 'til we DUMP DAVIS and still no platform, no positions and no DEBATE set from the Terminator boy! VOTE 4 MCCLINTOCK or pay the consequences! http://www.tommcclintock.com

[Wolfstar]

I am very uncomfortable with the fact that Schwarzenegger brought in Warren Buffet (and another Democrat whose name escapes me at the moment). I am also uncomfortable with the fact that Arnold seems to be holed up somewhere rather than getting out and making campaign appearances. I will not vote for a candidate who refuses to work for my vote. On the other hand, I honestly, genuinely do not think Tom McClintock has a ghost of a chance of winning this recall, and the thought of Cruz Bustamante becoming governor is really frightening to me. Rather than poo-pooing my concerns, as all in the McClintock camp on this forum have done so far, can you give me your best appraisal of how you think McClintock could win?

[Mr. Mojo]

as much as I like the man and his positions, I don't think he has a prayer of winning this recall election.

I'd support McClintock enthusiastically had he come out in his policy statement against gun control and illegal immigation (the latter being the single biggest issue facing Calilfornians, and one of the main reasons for their economic crisis). But alas, he's completely ignored these two conservative issues. ....Issues that 'pure' conservative would never ignore. So he either doesn't believe they're important or he doesn't have the guts to make them part of his campaign. ....Which makes him little better than Rino Arnie, imo.

[JohnnyZ]

none for the other 2, yet they supposedly get hirer polling numbers?

Name recognition. For Simon at least. People were excited about him last year (the 6% he's getting now) and haven't re-evaluated.

For Ueberroth, it's probably the business vote.

[Hostage]

There's a rumor goig about that he appeared on Fox News this morning and said he would void all energy contracts. Is that accurate? If so, I don't think it can be done.

[PeoplesRep_of_LA]

I would like to see Simon pull out and throw his support to McClintock. In my view, that would give Tom a much stronger chance of winning.

Me too! He's trying to be so charming in his interviews that its sickening. Plus he's stealing alot of Tom's campaign promises. Now if he was going to be elected, I'd have to problem. If Ahrnold does, I would love for him to rip Tom off, but since Simon isn't going to be elected, its rather irritating.

Drop out Simon.

[Wolfstar]

I'll have to check his campaign website. But to be fair, I have heard him on talk radio here in the L.A. area say strongly that as governor he would do everything in his power to address the issue.

[Wolfstar]

He has been saying that on all the radio venues I've heard him on here in the L.A. area. I think it's one of his prime campaign themes.

[PeoplesRep_of_LA]

For Ueberroth, it's probably the business vote.

color me suspicious...why? He doesn't stand for anything, he doesn't even have cliches or soundbytes. The guy is like an ether. I never see him, I"m not even sure he's running, yet he polls that high? Sorry, I just want to see some other polls than the Field one, I'm not buying it.

[JohnnyZ]

Rather than poo-pooing my concerns, as all in the McClintock camp on this forum have done so far, can you give me your best appraisal of how you think McClintock could win?

It depends what %age the winning candidate gets. McClintock needs Simon's supporters for one. At that point he's one of three candidates in double figures, with Cruz on the left, Arnold dominating the middle, and McClintock on the right. He needs to have his clear message heard in order to pick up the business and center voters really concerned about the state who will go with substance over style. He has to compete with Ueberroth for that vote as well.

Beyond that it's turnout. Who goes to the polls in the recall vote? Nobody really knows who'll show up.

In any case I'd be shocked if Bustamante got 30%, though he could break 20. So much of the Democrat vote is for Arnold, Ueberroth, Camejo, Huffington, et al.

[JohnnyZ]

I never see him, I"m not even sure he's running, yet he polls that high?

I would guess it's older voters (45+), McCain-type voters who are sick of politics and want someone non-political and still have a lot of respect for Ueberroth from the Olympics, etc. Some people do have memories.

[Mr. Mojo]

I'm just going by what I read in his policy statement. ...And his saying that he'll do "everything in his power to address the issue" is not enough, and smells to me like a way of weaseling out of it. He needs to come up with an actual plan, and fast.

[Rabid Dog]

His position is that the contracts were negoiated with a clear legal conflict of interest on the part of the negotiator (who works for Davis but received $200,000 from the energy company because he was on some board). Davis doesn't want to address the issue because it would focus on wrongdoing. Tom would have the contracts void (over $42 billion) either through the court system or special legislative session or if need be by ballot.

[Rabid Dog]

I'm starting to see the word RINO creep into the discussions. If you want to debate the merits of Tom versus other candidates, please go to one of the other plentiful threads. As stated in the orginal post, this is for information on Tom's campaign efforts only. (You will see all of us on the other threads debating like crazy.) Consider this a "quiet zone".

[Mr. Mojo]

What none of these candidates have yet to figure out is that campaigning hard against illegal immigration is a winning game-plan in California. Every CA ballot initiative that has addressed this issue in the past has passed overwhelmingly (only to be later shot down by the CA supreme court). So the candidates' hesitancy is completely unjustified. Yeah, an anti-immigration platform would generate the expected backlash from the usual race-card playing suspects, but the voters would be with them.

[PeoplesRep_of_LA]

I would guess

That's my problem, based off one poll we are forced to make reality conform to it groundswell of support Uberoth. Its kind of an acrobatic move at that.

[Canticle_of_Deborah]

Imitation is the most sincere form of flattery (or so they say). Arnold and the Dems are stealing Tom's ideas but they want to pretend he doesn't exist or doesn't have a chance. If he really doesn't have a chance, why are they so hysterical at the mere mention of his name?

[Rabid Dog]

I agree 100%. I think he will keep plugging away for the next six weeks and his future is going to look real bright - either for the Oct. 7 election or maybe against Boxer.

[Hostage]

Who is the negotiator and dod they purportedly receive $ from every energy company?

There are over 100 companies involved. I don't think there is a chance that he can void $40B in contracts on the basis of one negotiator. If he is saying he can void all contracts (100's of them) on the basis of one corrupt negotiator receiving only $200k, then McClintock is smoking something illegal.

The story on energy in California is clear:

1. California Greens pushed a sustainable no-growth energy policy through the nineties. This policy was carried out at the CPUC level and permitted by Gray Davis until 2000. The impact was the delay and cancellation of new or expanded power plant capacity.

2. The dotcom explosion created an econonmic boom and bubble that drove new construction and was accompanied by industrial growth. The impact was an enormous increase in the demand for energy.

3. A flawed state energy policy mislabeled as energy deregulation resulted in a fundamental supply-demand imbalance.

Many power companies were ordered (not asked) to fire up their mothballed peaker plants. There were no contracts in place and there were no crews on hand to startup these plants. Safety checks and training of new crews were necessary as well. The result was a short term delay in providing power.

In the meantime California went to the power spot market which is available as an expensive last resort and spent enormous sums that would not have been necessary had they not adopted a Utopian plan for energy growth.

Later California agreed to long term contracts for billions of dollars. These contracts were not high dollar amounts because of greed but because of environmentally expensive upgrades that were needed to bring the old plants into conformance with code. In effect, these billions of dollar contracts were the price of California's neglect and deferral of energy growth.

The state's energy policy and operation further compounded the energy debacle by the action of two agencies (CAISO and CPX) withholding payments to energy companies and eventually going bankrupt. Three billion dollars were left in accounts owed to energy companies. California and its legal mercenaries launched a claim for those funds and more. Politics made energy companies the scapegoats for the flawed policies.

The long and short of California's energy debacle is that the State tried to have it every which way and is now ending up with nothing but red ink and an impaired credit rating. The State has also damaged the credit of many energy companies through hyped litigation. This has left many companies unwilling or incapable of solving California's energy supply problems.

For McClintock to have any credibility with respect to energy, he will need to settle with energy companies immediately and propose a sane and workable policy. He will also in my opinion need a federal bailout and mediation.