"The serious question was whether the recall would qualify. I talked with a number of people trying to find the money to get it qualified, and ultimately, was one of the people who helped persuade Darrell Issa to put up the money to qualify it (not the only one, and I didn't have to work real hard, he wanted the recall to succeed, for the credibility of the party).
Tom was not at those meetings, and Darrell asked me what I thought Tom would do if he financed the recall. I told him I didn't know, but Darrell would have a persuading argument to ask him to step aside, since Tom could not have made it work without Darrell's help.
I know Darrell talked to Tom about not running. Tom ultimately decided not to reconsider. Issa is a strong conservative, and was, more than any other, responsible for the success of the recall, but Tom's believed he should be Governor.
That was one of the principal reasons (though not the only one) Darrell chose not to run. We lost a solid conservative, who could have financed his own campaign, and got a solid conservative who could not, because Tom believed he was entitled to the Governor's office. This is not a battle over personality; it is a battle over principle. I believe the principles we believe in lost when Darrell pulled out, and they lost because Tom would not even consider anything other than his personal campaign for Governor. We will not advance principle as long as personality trumps principle in these types of disputes. It is history now, but it did play a role in my decision, because I believed I had found the perfect meshing of principle and practicality in Darrell Issa, and the conservative movement lost.