well, I guess discounting Tom over eminent domain and rejecting endorsing Prop 90 a few days before the election may not have been what broke the election for Tom, but it certainly didn't help much either.. big donors behind major projects don't like having roadblocks like Prop 90 dropped on them when they are out doing their thing like big projects and such and now that 43 billion is up for grabs, well.. connect the dots.
btw, There is no party loyalty in the Ca GOP leadership, there used to be but history is not taught much these days it seems, it seems to be a lost art, and that also will be intoned by certain folks here as all the conservative base's fault as well..
are ya starting to see a pattern develop yet?
It is fair to criticize Gov. Arnold for being not conservative...But, I don't know about criticizing him for not helping other GOP candidates.
It is difficult to get elected to a statewide office as a Republican in CA.
Debra Bowen beat Republican Bruce McPherson for the Secretary of State job. I did not see any Bowen ads on TV. McPherson was the incumbent. His name was on every piece of election material sent to CA voters. I guess his problem was that there was "Republican" next to his name in the ballot...
Tony Strickland...I heard his radio ad. He has been on radio many times discussing issues. He is a conservative like Tom M. But, Democrat John Chiang beat him for the Controller position. Who is John Chiang? I heard one radio ad, by LA mayor Villaraigosa, supporting Chiang...The label "Democrat" was next to his name in the ballot. That probably was enough...
There was a strong anti-GOP sentiment this year in America. That sentiment did not bypass CA...CA voters were inclined to vote for Democrats. Republicans had to work extra hard to get votes...Only Poizner and Arnold succeeded in doing so.
1994 was a bad year for Dems. Anti-Dem sentiment did hurt CA Dems. That year only two statewide offices were won by Democrats. Gray Davis won the Lt. Gov. job. Kathleen Connell won the Controller job.
In 1994, I do not recall Pete Wilson going around the state campaigning for other GOP candidates...Yet other GOP candidates managed to win.
That year Phil Angelides lost to Republican Matt Fong for the Treasurer position...I think that anti-Dem sentiment helped Matt Fong that year. In 1998, Matt Fong did not run a good campaign against Barbara Boxer...
I like Tom McClintock...I like to listen to him on radio, explaining issues. But, I am not sure if he will ever get elected to a statewide office in CA. 2006 was the 4th time he ran for a statewide office. (Counting 2003 recall)
By the way, Tom lost to Connell in 1994. 1994 was a not good year for Dems, even in CA.
What if Arnold and Tom campaigned together all over the state? Still, the voters would know that Tom is way more conservative than Arnold...I don't think "independent" voters would have gone for Tom in any case...Those "independent" voters did not want anyone "too conservative".
McClintock should consider running for Elton Gallegly's seat in Congress in a few years...Gallegly stated that he is going to serve one more term. By the way, Gallegly's district is a safe GOP district...