Posted on 09/26/2003 12:00:31 PM PDT by StoneColdGOP
There is no argument about the serious condition of our once golden state. Our debt is greater than all the other states combined, we are but a few million dollars away from bankruptcy. Our tax burden and over regulations are driving business out of the state at an unprecedented rate.
We are at a crucial point in our state’s history. The people themselves; Democrat, Republican and Independents, without the approval or help from any party have called for an election to recall this governor and replace him with another, one who will hopefully lead us out of this mess.
There appears to be a wide agreement on the first question; should we recall Governor Davis. The second part, choosing a new governor, will not be difficult for most Democrats: theirs is a party line vote with only one candidate, Lt. Gov. Bustamante. And even though he said he will raise taxes and further regulate and tax business, forcing more of them to leave, they will vote for him.
For Republicans however this election is about more than which Republican we should vote for. This election is more about the party itself; will we continue to be a party of principle, directed by the philosophy of Lincoln and Reagan or have we laid our principles aside? Do we want to win so badly that it doesn’t matter how or who, just so the next governor has an R behind his name?
The GOP has two candidates: Arnold Schwarzenegger, a celebrity of worldwide fame, with popularity and fame as the Terminator and recognized as a super star among movie idols. He is a good man. His celebrity status alone will attract a huge number of votes for the GOP from Independents, Democrats and especially young voters. Among the 18 to 30 year olds, he is Britney Spears with muscles. They wow over him. Most moderate Republicans and many regular Republicans, those who desperately want a Republican to win, will vote for him. They are prepared to look beyond his political beliefs and character; they just want to win.
Sen. McClintock, on the other hand, is an icon among Republicans. Since the first day he was elected to office, nearly twenty years ago, he has led the fight against the very forces and policies that have now badly tarnished this once golden state. He fought Governor Wilson’s huge tax increase, just as hard as he fought Willie Brown and Gray Davis. His credentials, as well as his character as a conservative Republican, are impeccable.
He has been our party’s leader and severest critic of fraud, corruption and waste in state government. From the very beginning of his career until today, he has warned that unless spending was brought under control, California would end up as it has today.
The knock on McClintock is that he can’t raise the money and so, can’t win this election. The knock on Schwarzenegger is that he is not a true Republican and carries a lot of baggage that the Democrats will probably throw at him just before the election.
Actually, Arnold is no higher in the polls than he was when he started, whereas McClintock has risen from an asterisk to double digits.
In the last election, McClintock was outspent 30 to 1, yet he received more votes than any other other Republican on election day. Had those moderates claiming Tom can’t win today contributed to his election, or given him his fair share of the money donated by the national party, he would have won. McClintock lost the Controller’s race by the slimmest margin in history. Had he been helped by the moderates controlling our state party, California would not now be in the awful mess in which we find ourselves today.
The moderates of the party and most of the GOP congressmen are just where they were prior to the last Governor’s race. On orders from the White House and Karl Rove, many "conservative" congressman support Schwarzenegger, just as they endorsed the moderate Richard Riordan.
The moderates in our party, including the New Majority and those in the Lincoln Club, are intensely interested in electing Schwarzenegger, a moderate. They believe the party’s future, especially in California, is to adopt the Karl Rove/Parsky plan; we must forgo the values of the liberals and accept the invasion of illegals, adopt the big tent, tax and spend and big government philosophy of the Democrats.
Conservatives know that our party’s losses in California, all during the past decade, are due to millions of illegals who have entered California, and – the continued split in our party between the moderate, "Country Club" Republicans and the conservatives.
While Arnold has a high rating in the polls, it has never risen above where it started. McClintock on the other hand has been continually rising, from as asterisk to double digits. There is a cry from moderate Republicans and "concern" from the media that McClintock should withdraw in favor of Arnold, else the GOP might not win and the dreadful Bustamante will become governor.
This dilemma among the GOP might not be so tragic or apocryphal if the contest was between two conservatives, say Simon and McClintock, one would drop out when just before the election the other was ahead. The same can be said if the two Republicans were Arnold and some equally famous, moderate movie star, but it isn’t.
It’s between our brightest Republican star, a conservative icon and a dazzling celebrity. Conservatives at the core of the party are incredulous at those moderates who don’t share those core values, yet are asking the conservative standard bearer to drop out. Conservatives want to win but they know that a win that asks us to repudiate our principles is not a victory, it’s a harbinger of the end.
Lieutenant Colonel Gil Ferguson, USMC (Ret.), served in the California State Assembly from 1984 to 1994.
Oh, I beg your pardon.
It must be nice having all the answers, isn't it?
CA is so far left, I assume a long play is merely entering the race.
Whats more, I think the difference between your's & my view of the electorate is you think they're ideology static, and I think they can be swayed.
Of course they can be swayed. They get swayed each and every day. But when it comes time to vote, they are what they are. You will not get them to move any farther than where they are and currently they are not even in the same universe as you and Tom are.
All it takes is someone willing to unapologetically LEAD. This is what is so frustrating.
Lets look at history. Probably there is no better leader, and pursuader to walk the earth than Jesus Christ. He managed to convince a few people that he was not only right but that he was God. He even had perfect press when he entered Jursalem.
But when it was put to a vote, the people hadn't really moved that far from their personal posistions. That takes time. So the vote went for Barabas over Jesus.
Lets try another. Lets look at Moses. He led the people out of slavery, he showed them that God would supply their daily needs with manna from heaven. When it came time for them to vote, they melted their gold and made the calf to worship.
So, I think you are wrong. I don't believe that a leader can change the hearts and minds of people in the few short weeks that lead up to an election.
The ONLY reason it may get him in office is because of pragmatic Republicans. Vote your principles and guess who wins...
I'll put this in my mom's words... "If everyone jumped off a bridge..." You get the point.
May I borrow that? It's so...appropriate.
Now wait just a minute. Who are they calling star-struck groupies?
It's obvious that Moon Unit has the popularity, the looks, the 'tude. Can't we all just stop arguing, and agree on the obvious?
Join Team Moon Unit!!!!!!! Remember: A vote for Mary Carey is a vote for Angelyne!!!!!!!!
;-)
I can see there are going to be some very sad McClintock supporters around here in a couple of weeks when reality hits.
Isn't that a rational thing to do ?
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