I am amazed at the greed of the McClintock camp. They cannot win. Everyone knows that. But they are going to make sure that Bustemante does. There is nothing "principled" about thier position. It is just childish greed, imo.Maybe it's not greed but positioning for 2006. Let's assume that Arnold will be happy with 3 years and then want out. He has Buffet on board because they need to reorg the state and it's debt structure.
McClintock knows he can't win but a socially liberal Republican can so a deal gets struck. McClintock bows out with the understanding that if Arnold doesn't run again that he endorses Tom. Riordan will be too old and Arnold can at least get the state thinking economically conservative again.
That might work, but for it to happen two things have to come to pass:
- Tom has to bow out, which he shows no sign of doing. Given the rabidity of his bitter-end supporters, he may not have much to bring to a deal -- if he deals most of them will sit home and sulk.
- Tom's deal has to include some kind of high-level post that will let him increase his visibility in California. He's desperately unpopular now, poling down with Arianna and the other joke candidates. Either people know him and hate him, like Arianna, or they don't know him... he had better hope it's the latter. In that case what he needs to do is not tilt at a windmill he can't beat, but get his name-recognition up.
But of course, his supporters don't want him to deal. Like Hitler moving phantom armies on the map as the Russians swarmed over Berlin, they've got victory in their grasp. Oh brother.
d.o.l.
Criminal Number 18F