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More on McClintock:

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Apparently he has always been an "outsider" in the Republican party, because of his unwillingness to compromise over anything. It's his way or the highway, which are not exactly the right characteristics for a governor, nor does he seem to be someone who would lift a finger for the party -- or California for that matter. He very much reminds me of Perot: all ego, the heck with the wellfare of the nation or state.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/974057/posts?page=73#73

"Even within his own Republican Party, state Sen. Tom McClintock has always been an outsider, consigned to counting his victories indirectly -- as the instigator of ideas that catch on later, usually with someone else's name attached.

As governor, he says, he would bypass the deadlocked Legislature, if necessary, to balance the budget through executive order and ballot initiative.

McClintock knows many of his proposals are not popular. But the tart-tongued, abrasive state senator has never been a consensus builder. He has taken shots at what he sees as excessive spending by both parties for two decades.

He criticized Republican Gov. George Deukmejian regularly on a variety of issues. For a decade, he has railed against Republican Pete Wilson for imposing "the biggest tax increase in American history" when he was governor.

Some arguments between McClintock and Wilson were so strong, legislators who attended the Republican strategy sessions said they watched in awe.

He so angered Wilson that the governor opposed McClintock's first bid for state controller in 1994, drying up campaign contributions, said Tony Quinn, a Republican strategist in Sacramento for three decades.

"Everything in McClintock's career has turned out to be a cul-de-sac: He drives in, and there's nowhere to go," Quinn said.

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http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/news/6655233.htm

McClintock refuses to get out of the way

Ross Perot comparison

McClintock is being labeled an underfunded revolutionary, with only a pitchfork facing cannons. And he is being likened to Ross Perot, whose 1992 run for president threw the race to Bill Clinton, many Republicans believe.

Being a target is nothing new for McClintock, who has roiled the waters of Sacramento politics almost since he joined the Assembly in 1982 at age 26. He has run two failed races for state controller, barely losing last year to former eBay executive Steve Westly.

He is ``the only politician I know who's been cussed out by both Gray Davis and Pete Wilson,'' said Assemblyman Ray Haynes, R-Temecula, a Sacramento colleague and friend. ``He's the North Star for conservatives, but he's not a great consensus-builder.''

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Few believe McClintock will drop out. It is not his style, say those who know him well