For the GOP, it's More than a Recall

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.

Busta's going to be Guv, and it is going to be the Perot Factor that does it.

You may be right but I get the sense from your post that you consider McClintock to be the Perot of the situation. Let's see...we had a GOP candidate who espoused Reaganesqe ideals in the race from the start. Whenever he's heard unfiltered, his poll numbers rise... maybe he should be heard more often. Maybe the GOP should support this guy.

Instead, we get an Arnold-come-lately who espouses social policies which don't jibe with the GOP platform and who, despite spending millions, can't increase his numbers in the polls. The GOP throws their support here because they just hope to win on his star power--regardless of his beliefs or policies.

The Perot in this scenario is Arnold who is siphoning votes from the only true conservative candidate in the race--the only one who actually recites the GOP platform.

Running to the Left is not going to convince people on the Left (or even in the Center) to move to the Right.

Who is runing to the left ? California can't go any farther left. Besides you miss the point. Mathmatically there isn't enough people that will go as far right to elect McClintock. You cannot get there from here regardless of who takes a principled stand..

Standing firm on principle and offering a distinct choice will yield results.

Okay. Your standing on the ship labeled Principled-Titanic. Please explain how your principled stand will yield results except to lose ?

However, it may not bring an instant victory.

You still don't get it. You can repeat this process till enternity and the outcome will be the same. You will lose each time. Its simply not possible for the majority to knowing elect someone whose principals are that different than those of the majority. Peeing into the wind will bring about better results than attempting to repeat a losing forumula time after time.

Capitulation in the name of expedience is a losing proposition.

If you were the coach of a football team using your logic, every play you would make would be throwing for a touch down pass because trying to gain one yard at a time is compromising your principles ? Thats nuts.

We've done it for years, and it just makes the Left stronger.

The left has gotten weaker because the GOP has figured out how to gain yards inch by inch and go for the occasional big play. We always lost when we attempted push the American electorate farther right than they were prepared to go.

"his(McClintock's character as a conservative Republican, are impeccable. "

Conservative Republicans don't collude with the enemy and don't consciously and deliberately want to Democrat to be elected.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/985534/posts

Tom McClintock - The conscience of a conservative?

September 19, 2003
by Bob Chandra

In recent days, Tom McClintock, the "other Republican" in California's recall race, has accepted a million dollars spent on his behalf by a left-wing special interest group. He has claimed that a Democrat victory in the recall election would be desirable, as it would better his chances in 2006. And he has joined with Democrat Cruz Bustamante in a boycott against fellow Republican, Arnold Schwarzenegger. This is the man we're supposed to believe represents the conscience of conservatism? At the end of the day, Tom McClintock's Faustian Pact with the Left has made one thing clear - it's all about Tom McClintock.

The $1 million to be spent on McClintock's behalf is by Indian gambling interests, a staunch Democratic special interest. I wrote about the possibility of left-wing special interests backing McClintock in order to divide Republicans several weeks back. Now it is a reality. The Sacramento Bee has announced that the Morongo tribe is spending $1 million to boost McClintock's candidacy and it's not because they want him to win. The money spent on McClintock is meant to split the Republican vote so their loyal servant, Democrat Cruz Bustamante, can emerge the winner. With enough left- wing money, McClintock can steal enough votes from Arnold to make that happen. Tom's win-at-any-cost mindset has him collaborating with leftist groups who want nothing more than a divided Right to throw the election to Bustamante. Does McClintock see that the Left is using him? Maybe there's a reason it's called "blind" ambition.

McClintock's partnership with the liberal special interests raises serious questions about his loyalty to the GOP. McClintock has said he puts his personal "principles" before the party. But there's a deeper reason McClintock doesn't care that his spoiler candidacy will doom Republicans in the recall race.

In a conversation with US Congressman Dan Burton, Tom McClintock said the following: he (McClintock) didn't mind it if Democrats win the gubernatorial race because it could improve his own chances in 2006. According to the Los Angeles Times, "Burton, one of the more conservative members of Congress, also said McClintock had seemed to suggest that it would be acceptable for a Democrat to hold the governor's office, because he might create a clamor for a Republican in 2006.". So that's what this is really about. If McClintock can't win, he can at least prevent the Republicans from winning so he has a better shot in 2006. Aren't we glad he's playing for our team?

McClintock is now collaborating with Cruz Bustamante to boycott the California Broadcasters Association's debate on the 24th as a means of showing up Arnold Schwarzenegger. Bustamante led the boycott charge on October 17th with McClintock soon followed his lead. When you see a Republican siding with a Democrat against a fellow Republican, you know something is wrong with the picture. Don't adjust your set- this is Tom McClintock, the self-styled conscience of conservatism.

As if things couldn't get any worse, McClintock is justifying his candidacy on a poll strategically conducted by the left-wing Los Angeles Times, which wants nothing more than to keep him in the race. That Times' poll has been debunked by Field and even invalidated by the Times' own reporting. It added 6% more self-identified conservatives than other polls and naturally gave McClintock an artificial 5% bump. But McClintock is clinging to this cooked poll, another leftist ploy, because it serves his interests.

What kind of a conservative lets left-wing interests drive his candidacy like this? The answer is a candidate who is so blind with ambition that he does not see how the Left is using him to their own ends. Thus far, McClintock has claimed he stands for principle, but it is obvious that his hopeless candidacy is based on personal ambition. It's no longer appropriate to view McClintock as merely a misguided crusader. He is a bigger threat to Republican victory on Election Day than Cruz Bustamante. Up until now, McClintock has responded to arguments for stepping aside with denial, delusion, and arrogance. Given his collaboration with the Left, Republicans must get serious with him. McClintock's "stalking horse" candidacy must come to an end.

I'll leave you to your delusions, but you act like the terms under which this recall and election are being conducted are NORMAL, and thus you have all the time in the world to do what you normally do.The way it has been done in the past is moot, but continue thinking you have that choice.You don't.You don't have that luxury, so it's your thinking that is out of step and completely irrelevant to the facts on the ground.

You have but one choice and one only: vote for the most conservative candidate who can win.That's the only criteria that matters, not some wish list dreamed up to use as a stump speech around the State.Putting winning ahead of the fantasy of the most desirable candidate is the most RATIONAL choice available.I have stated this over and over to many here, going past 5 wks, and yet, this basic fact is lost in a spew of recriminations about purity, and honour and 'principles"

This is no different than those who think you can continue the pre-9/11 charade of acceptable asymmetrical warfare.That world has changed and there are new rules.Figure out the rules to this recall and how to win, and you may develop a rational thought after all.I'm not going to waste my time on dimwits, so post to someone else.

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.