Gallup: Either McClintock or Schwarzenegger Likely Winner in California if Other Dropped Out

Gallup ^ | 9-30-03 | Gallup

[Torie]

I don't think so, but Simon is not McClintock. One is an empty suit with some other flaws, and one isn't. One is facing an election with issues to play to his strong suit, and as I said, the other was an empty suit.

[Torie]

The boat has left the dock. Deal with it.

[Fred Mertz]

You make sense for once. What's gotten over you?

[jtill]

Thanks for the ping. Interesting since McClintock has been treated like a spoiler. If he could pick up those undecideds he'd really have a chance in the 3-way race.

[Kevin Curry]

Ah yes, the Schwarzentitanic on its maiden voyage.

I'm not sailing.

[It's me]

Well, SOuth, it seems that you are wrong.

[Tempest]

I support McClintock and he's shown how important MOMENTUM is. So to honor him I'll be voting for Schwarzenneger.

That plus in a normal election Tom wouldn't have gotten the free pass from the press and the left that he's been getting. Notice the media has hardly made a peep about his acceptance of Indian gaming money. You know the same issue that's cause Bustamante's number sto sink.

It's like this neither Arnold nor Tom is going to drop out. And hypothetically if Arnold did. Tom would be an easier target to sink than the Titanic because he poses himself up to be such a righteous moral upstanding guy. Which the media would have a hay day of tearing apart.

Arnold on the other hand has not made such grand overtures of false piety and has been much more resilant to slander.

[Sabertooth]

At the moment McClintock would be elected

There you go again, ya paleo.

[CounterCounterCulture]

[PRND21]

McClintock can beat Bustamante by a landslide

Ridiculous.
He might beat him in a race to the refrigerator, but that's it.

[Texasforever]

One is facing an election with issues to play to his strong suit, and as I said, the other was an empty suit.

Well during the primaries the true-believers sure didn't call him an "empty suit". They waited until the general election to turn on him. As to McClintock, I see him as the California version of Ron Paul. A good niche candidate but mid-level all the way. If you haven't gained rising star status in 20 years you are just not going to get there. Having said that, it may be fine for Arnold to step aside and let the conventional wisdom about conservatives in California be validated or debunked for a while. The fact is that the odds are still in Bustemante’s favor if both stay in the race.

[Tempest]

It means Busty and Davis are dispiesed. Davis for obvious reason and Busty more so of recent for his big Indian gaming money fiasco. Although the press has been rather quiet about implicating Tom McClintock in on that whole deal. I think that they were going to save that for if Arnold were to leave the race. We've seen how much it's damaged Busty.

[South40]

Well, SOuth, it seems that you are wrong.

Hardly. You can buy the CNN poll if you'd like. I'll stick to the long held position that it's a liberal spin machine...which it is.

[DoughtyOne]

If the McClintock camp is gullible enough to buy into this tripe, they deserve the good laughs folks will have at their expense. Their willingness to grasp at any straw never ceases to amaze me. Don't mention crossover votes anyone, or you'll be Satan's spawn to them. Yes, it stands to reason, Schwarzenegger pulling twice the votes they are, is very likely to stand down for Tom. Here's to a lively thread without any further imput from me. Enjoy.

[kellynla]

Expediency vs. principle
If Supreme Court puts recall back on track, a crucial choice looms Oct. 7
By DOUG GAMBLE 9/16/03
The former writer for President Reagan lives in Carmel.

Assuming the U.S. Supreme Court overturns the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals and puts the California recall election back on track, and state Sen. Tom McClintock stays in the race, Republicans will have to choose between expediency and principle Oct. 7. At the moment, expediency is leading in the polls.

If this were a primary, the conservative bent of state Republicans would probably mean a McClintock victory over Arnold Schwarzenegger. But since the candidate receiving the most votes becomes governor if Gray Davis is recalled, conservatives are tempted to give Schwarzenegger a free pass on ideology just to have a Republican as chief executive.

Even if it means postponing a GOP governorship until January 2007 - and I believe a conservative running a smart campaign can win statewide office in this state - I hope California Republicans will match McClintock's principled stand on the issues with principles of their own and vote for him over a watered-down Republican whose unofficial campaign slogan seems to be, "Details, schmetails." If he were Arnold Schwarzenegger, insurance agent, instead of Arnold Schwarzenegger, actor, his campaign would be a joke and unworthy of coverage.

The fact is his support is built entirely on a foundation of celebrity. How else to explain the all- news channels breaking away from regular programming to cover live the actor's every utterance before a microphone? It is only a movie star's fame that makes him more media-worthy than McClintock.

When Schwarzenegger is greeted at campaign events by throngs of squealing teen-age girls and crowds pressing forward for handshakes and autographs, it has nothing to do with politics and everything to do with fame. The actor's calculation, probably correct, is that in our celebrity-obsessed culture, star appeal trumps substance.

Those who vote for Schwarzenegger will do so without really knowing what they'll be getting. He still speaks in vague generalities and has not spelled out the particulars of achieving stated goals. According to TV ads that contain more fluff than the lint filter of an overused clothes dryer, his entire solution to the budget deficit is to "open the books."

He has said nothing about what programs he'll cut, and, although he insists he won't raise taxes, I don't believe him.

Particularly irksome is his decision to duck all but one of the scheduled debates. What other than political cowardice and contempt for the voters would cause a candidate to pass up opportunities to make his case before a statewide TV audience, a viewership made all the larger by interest in the recall? And what credible candidate would refuse to hold a news conference at a party's state convention as Schwarzenegger did last weekend?

Yet even such solid Republicans as Orange County Rep. Dana Rohrabacher and conservative spitfire Ann Coulter seem to have fallen under the Schwarzenegger celebrity spell, backing a candidate who is pro-abortion, favors gun control and gay adoptions and is to the left of Sen. Dianne Feinstein on school vouchers.

Schwarzenegger is compared to Ronald Reagan, but the real Reagan Republican in this race is McClintock, a courageous fighter against big government and higher taxes for over two decades. Also, it is McClintock who has seen a recent surge in poll numbers while Schwarzenegger's have remained relatively stagnant. But apparently no good work goes unpunished as the California GOP sees it, so it's the genuine Republican the party wants to boot to the sidelines.

If enough Republicans vote for Schwarzenegger, he may become governor, but at what cost to the party's soul? Their votes will decide if conservative principles are worth fighting for or whether most California Republicans are just star-struck groupies.

http://www.ocregister.com

[Kevin Curry]

McClintock would win by a landslide.

So why support Arnold? Is it because he favors strict gun cotrols? Is it because he wants to legitimize illegal aliens and pick up their education and medical expenses on the public dime? Is it because he will "never forgive" the Republican Party for supporting the impeachment of vile liar Bill Clinton? Maybe it's because sexual perversion fits his definition of wholesome family values and he supports every kinky definition of marriage and partnership that can be brainstormed? Or is it that he's given the "right wing crazies" their comeuppance for daring to suggest in a colorblind society government shouldn't be allowed to collect divisive race-related data on its citizens? Is it because he supports big government nanny-state programs such as elder-care, day-care, and runaway public funding of the bloated, ghastly, inefficient child-destroying teachers union-dominated education system?

Please tell me: what is the attraction of Arnold Schwarzenegger to a clear-thinking conservative anyway?

[Outraged]

Tom McClintock has taught me the importance of MOMENTUM and the poll clearly shows that Arnold Schwarzenneger has the momentum to win.

The problem though, Tempest, is that you have been conveniently shoved into a teapot.

Tom McClintock would have been beating McCainenneger and Bustamywallet if the RINO guns weren't all firing simultanteously at the true Conservative in the race and shooting us all in the foot in the process.

[Tempest]

[Texasforever]

You make sense for once. What's gotten over you?

Oh you wouldn't like my motives. I don't think McClintock has a mouse’s chance in a room full of cats, I just want to put a lid on the "purists" for awhile after they lose the governorship twice in two years against an incumbent with a 30% approval rating.

[PRND21]

Please tell me: what is the attraction of Arnold Schwarzenegger to a clear-thinking conservative anyway?

He can win and help my beloved State. Period.