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For the GOP, it's More than a Recall
Lt. Col. Gil Ferguson, USMC (Ret.)

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.


TOPICS: Activism/Chapters; Constitution/Conservatism; Editorial; Extended News; Front Page News; Government; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections; US: California
KEYWORDS: mcwampum; recall; tommcclintock
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To: FairOpinion
You guys are the ones who are working hard to get Bustamante elected, not us.

We just don't see it that way. We see that so-called "conservatives" are failing to support a fine conservative candidate, probably the last one we'll ever get a chance to vote for in this state, to elect a liberal movie star.

To say that we are working hard for Bustamante is unfair and frankly, warped.

BTW, this whole thing will soon be rerun in Pennsylvania. It will be interesting to see how that one pans out as well.

81 posted on 09/26/2003 12:58:03 PM PDT by truthkeeper
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To: milan
I am going to die laughing

The sound will probably not be audible in California.

82 posted on 09/26/2003 12:58:07 PM PDT by Amerigomag
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To: StoneColdGOP
First of all the article is full of lies about Schwarzenegger. He is a fiscal conservative and a social moderate. No more liberal than Giuliani, for instance.

And why do you think all the prominent CONSERVATIVE Republicans and Republican organizations endorse Arnold and support him?


====

From Arnold's speech at the Republican Convention:

"What I saw in Austria made me anti-communist. What I saw in California made me a free-enterprise, fiscally conservative Republican. Republican principles are what built California into the Golden State.

I came to America 35 years ago as an immigrant. By working playing by the rules, my immigrant dreams came true. I want other peoplhard and e to have the same chances, the same opportunities. I am a Republican because of what Ronald Reagan said – government bureaucrats can never substitute for millions of individuals working night and day to make their dreams come true.

That's what being a Republican means.

Let me tell you what being a conservative means to me.

I'm a conservative because I believe communism is evil and free enterprise is good.

I'm a conservative because Milton Friedman is right and Karl Marx was wrong.

I'm a conservative because I believe the government serves the people; the people don't serve the government.

I'm a conservative because I believe in balanced budgets, not budget deficits.

I'm a conservative because I believe the money that people earn is their money – not the government’s money.

And when you look at this driver's license outrage, I'm a conservative because I believe in the rule of law not in political pandering.

The driver's license issue is not about race; it's about law.

It's about a fair playing field. It's about living by the rules.

That's why people come to this country – because our laws mean something.

As governor, I promise you – our laws will mean something.

http://www.joinarnold.com/en/press/pressdetail.php?id=113

83 posted on 09/26/2003 12:58:32 PM PDT by FairOpinion
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To: truthkeeper
It's running in AZ right now - the RNC has little trial runs going all over the place.
84 posted on 09/26/2003 12:58:51 PM PDT by Rabid Dog
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To: TJC
We voted Simon over Riordan. I think TM would get the support. (He would have mine) Boxer can be beaten.

He'd have mine, as well. Although I truly believe the guy is better suited to be guv where good policy can really make a difference.

AS would make a much better senator than governor.

85 posted on 09/26/2003 12:58:56 PM PDT by skeeter (Fac ut vivas)
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To: FairOpinion
That's all the so-called conservatives know how to do is LOSE.

Because the pragmatists, who agree 100% in principle, put their finger in the wind at the voting booth.

86 posted on 09/26/2003 12:59:11 PM PDT by pgyanke (We wouldn't have to fight our War on Terror if Islam would take out its own trash!)
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To: Poohbah
Out of Bustamante and Schwarzenegger, which candidates' opinions on the issues most closely resemble yours?"

Arnold's.

87 posted on 09/26/2003 12:59:32 PM PDT by jmc813 (McClintock is the only candidate who supports the entire Bill of Rights, including the 2nd Amendment)
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To: truthkeeper
It doesn't matter "how you see it".

In elections result matter.

You pull the McCLintock lever, you are voting for Bustamante.

Just as the Perot voters gave us 8 years of Clinton.
88 posted on 09/26/2003 12:59:59 PM PDT by FairOpinion
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To: SunStar
LOL, you guys are always looking for excuses. It amuses me. The line about McClintock going "from an asterisk to double digits" is getting old, btw, time to think up something new, because McClintock has stalled in the polls himself the last few weeks.
89 posted on 09/26/2003 1:00:17 PM PDT by KellyAdmirer
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To: FairOpinion
No more liberal than Giuliani, for instance.

That's not saying a heck of a lot.

90 posted on 09/26/2003 1:00:44 PM PDT by jmc813 (McClintock is the only candidate who supports the entire Bill of Rights, including the 2nd Amendment)
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To: KellyAdmirer
Well I supposed it beats saying that I have lost ground in the polls like Arnold would have to say.
91 posted on 09/26/2003 1:01:15 PM PDT by Rabid Dog
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To: StoneColdGOP




Good post. Welcome back.


92 posted on 09/26/2003 1:01:59 PM PDT by Sabertooth (No Drivers' Licences for Illegal Aliens. Petition SB60. http://www.saveourlicense.com/n_home.htm)
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To: pgyanke
Those words were put together great. Look at it this way: do you want Bustamante to win?

No?

Then why vote in a manner that may get him in office?

93 posted on 09/26/2003 1:02:05 PM PDT by milan
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To: jmc813
He's Pro-Choice and pro gun control as well isn't he?
94 posted on 09/26/2003 1:02:06 PM PDT by Rabid Dog
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To: Rabid Republican
Arnold losing ground? LOL, McClintock wishes he ever had any of Arnold's numbers in this campaign. LOL, that's a hot one. :)
95 posted on 09/26/2003 1:02:29 PM PDT by KellyAdmirer
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To: FairOpinion
You pull the McCLintock lever, you are voting for Bustamante.

Bingo!

96 posted on 09/26/2003 1:03:02 PM PDT by milan
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To: Rabid Republican
He's Pro-Choice and pro gun control as well isn't he?

Pro-choice and VERY pro-gun control. I will admit though that he did a stellar job leading NYC after 9-11.

97 posted on 09/26/2003 1:03:22 PM PDT by jmc813 (McClintock is the only candidate who supports the entire Bill of Rights, including the 2nd Amendment)
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To: Poohbah
Out of Bustamante and Schwarzenegger, which candidates' opinions on the issues most closely resemble yours?"

Red herring... that isn't the choice. Tom is in the race. Since most of us on FR vote Republican, I would assume you have a choice to make between the two. Therefore, the question put to you is relevant and your answer says volumes about what is wrong with the GOP.

98 posted on 09/26/2003 1:04:02 PM PDT by pgyanke (We wouldn't have to fight our War on Terror if Islam would take out its own trash!)
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To: KellyAdmirer
here's a nice website for you:

http://www.realclearpolitics.com

Has all the poll information.

99 posted on 09/26/2003 1:04:33 PM PDT by Rabid Dog
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To: Rabid Republican
Thanks, I particularly like the polls showing Arnold around 40% with about a 10-point lead over the actual liberal, Bustamante.
100 posted on 09/26/2003 1:05:24 PM PDT by KellyAdmirer
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