"The 9th Circus Court of Appeals" (George Will TOUTS McCLINTOCK!)

Townhall ^ | Sep 17, 03 | George Will

[churchillbuff]

LOS ANGELES -- All that was lacking to complete the awfulness of California's recall was supplied when the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals shoved its oar in.

He has her determination to revive what she called ``the vigorous virtues''-- entrepreneurship, deferral of gratification, individual initiative, personal responsibility in making appetites conform to resources. Together, these aptitudes can be called adulthood.

[CyberAnt]

And .. you're voting for ..??? Oh yes, Arnold .. Geeeee, I didn't know he was running in Oklahoma tooooooo!!

[churchillbuff]

hmmm. you sound like an embittered political insider. a member of arnold's campaign staff? instead of dumping on mcclintock, why don't you folks steal his thunder by being a little more open to the conservative grassroots - and standing a bit more steadfast on bedrock issues. would it kill arnold to promise not to raise taxes? unless he intends to -- a la pete wilson or warren buffett in his fantasies -- why won't he take the pledge?

[churchillbuff]

I've seen your posts in defense of Lincoln. What I like about McClintock is his literacy on matters of Republican history and philosophy. Politicians don't HAVE to be ignorant of the past. Think of Teddy Roosevelt - author of many solid history books. So many of today's politicians do seem to be and say nothing but what their handlers pour into their heads, and it's all very present-focused, no historical or philosophical perspective. The fact McClintock is different - - more like a TR or a Robt Taft or even a John Kennedy (read his literate speeches!) - - makes the ignorami in the political world envious, jealous and, ultimately, angry.

[DoughtyOne]

Absentee balloting continues.

Tom McClintock continues to lock up votes.

If Tom McClintock truly stands at 18% in the polls, he stands to recieve between 7 and 9% by absentee ballot before 70% of the voters go to the polls on October 7th.  On election day, even if he withdraws a couple of days before the election, he will recieve between 2 and 4% more of the vote.

Tom may by siphoning off as much as 10 to 12% of the vote, even if he eventually withdraws from the race.  Tom as said that he won't withdraw.

Each day that goes by, tens of thousands of more votes are cast by mail.

Can anyone beat Cruz Bustamante.  We don't know for sure.  Polls have been all over the place.

[spam_bank]

hmmm. you sound like an embittered political insider. a member of arnold's campaign staff? instead of dumping on mcclintock, why don't you folks steal his thunder by being a little more open to the conservative grassroots - and standing a bit more steadfast on bedrock issues. would it kill arnold to promise not to raise taxes? unless he intends to -- a la pete wilson or warren buffett in his fantasies -- why won't he take the pledge?

Actually I'm a engineering student at Caltech who's sick and tired of reading all the "McClintock is our savior" posts. All I want to do is to bring some facts into the discussion.

As to why Arnold isn't promising the moon a la career politician McClintock maybe he thinks that politicians should keep their campaign promises and not just say them to get elected. But I guess Arnold is just naive. After all he doesn't have 20 years of experience like McClintock.

[cyncooper]

The malice and/or ignorance of the negative comments on this thread more or less speak for themselves.

Malice and ignorance?

My! You have very loose definitions of those words.

[churchillbuff]

Arnold is just naive. After all he doesn't have 20 years of experience like McClintock.

Geo Will might point out that Thatcher was a "professional politician," too. Also, like McClintock, she was middle class, not a gazillionaire, and wasn't surrounded by ultra-insiders like the Pete Wilsonites who seem to own Arnold. She had principles and was derided -- by Edward Heath and the other Tory liberals -- as impractical and unbending. Trouble is, they'd bent so much they had permanently contorted themselves and were no use to anybody. A lot of the GOP insiders who sneer at McClintock have the same disfigurement as Thatcher's bent-out-of-shape foes.

[SteveH]

Voting for McClintock is like voting for the first mate of a luxury liner to become captain of the liner. Say what you will, but McClintock has been on that liner for 25 years, and building experience onboard it.

Voting for Arnold is like voting for the captain of a rowboat to become captain of the luxury liner.

Yes, Arnold has been in private industry for 30 years.

No, Arnold's experience is not equal to McClintock's.

[Obligatory sheesh.]

[annyokie]

Why don't you go get your Bible and pray for me instead of dogging me on all these threads?

[habs4ever]

Will is just being an intellectual from the comfort of his Maryland den, so he's allowed to be highminded, and wrong.To even compare Tommy McWho to Thatcher is preposterous.

[ElkGroveDan]

You really don't need to waste the energy of posting calendars and calculating the implications of WHEN Tom would drop out. He's NOT going to drop out period. I know the man. He just isn't. Frankly every indication is that he's going to win.

The only solution left is for Arnold to drop out.

[rdf]

Dear churchillbuff,

I spent much time on the Lincoln threads, probably too much.

Tom McClintock, whom I know personally, seems to he to have the promise of greatness in him, as did Lincoln before he became President. Like Lincoln, Tom feels the spirit of the Declaration, and argues from it in public speeches and private reasonings.

Like Lincoln's, McClintock's symptoms of excellence, and possible greatness, as a statesman prompt irrational expressions of anger and contempt from some of our fellow citizens. Such are the temptations of pusillanimous men, who are to be pitied, not hated.

I don't know that he would be a first class statesman ... who does, until opportunity selects the man? ... but I believe he would.

I think George Will senses the same possibilities in Tom, and expresses them in this column. It's nice to be in Will's company on such a matter.

Cheers,

Richard F.

[The Old Hoosier]

why Arnold isn't promising the moon

Arnold is promising nothing, except to bring the national GOP to the Left. For the good of all of us in other states, he should be opposed.

And if that is worse for California (I don't think it really is, since Arnold is apparently pro-amnestyon top of everything else), it's YOUR fault for electing Davis in the first place.

[bootyist-monk]

Field ripped the LA Slimes Poll to shreds, noting that they oversampled Blacks and Hispanics by 2 to 1 and failed to even weigh the poll per their own internal statistics. The poll was rigged to do three things. 1-Show the recall as a statistical dead heat. It's not. Recall is winning by more than 15%. 2-Put Bustamecha in the lead to encourage more Democrats to go to the polls. 3-Split the Republican vote by over-inflating McClintock's numbers. All other polls show McClintock as a distant also-ran, hovering around 9%.

[CyberAnt]

First off .. I don't need to have a Bible to pray - and how do you know I haven't already prayed for you ..??

Secondly, I'm not dogging you - because if you don't want to be replied to - they why are you posting to all the TOM McCLINTOCK threads ..??

[spam_bank]

Arnold is promising nothing, except to bring the national GOP to the Left.

He's promising that he will try his best to fix California. Given Arnold's record of doing a world class job on everything he sets his sights on (i.e. bodybuilding, business, acting), I'm inclined to trust him.

McClintock's platform is unworkable promises + an inability to lead. If he hypothetically wins the election, he will go down in history as the governor of California that managed to do worse than Davis.

[DoughtyOne]

Thank you Dan. I would encourage you to past that or something similar after every posting I make with that calander. I've expressed my view and it's your right to express your opposing opinion as well.

[annyokie]

I don't reply to all the McClintock threads, apparently you find my replies noteworthy or I have your dander up for whaterver reason. Additionally, this is Churchillbuff's thread and I have already made peace there.

Thanks for the prayers. I will pray for you to quit shouting, using lots of caps and ...?????!!!!! Save some for later.

Buy a copy of the "Elements of Style" by Strunk and White. I'll chip in.

Now, leave me alone, please.

[Snuffington]

I've watched this thing from afar for a while, and as it drags on Schwarzenegger's appeal to conservatives is more puzzling to me. He sounds all too much like the definitely NOT conservative Jesse Ventura, whom we had the misfortune to experience as governor in my state for 4 years.

As far as I have been able to gather, those conservatives in California who support Arnold are willing to ignore a large number of real policy diagreements with the man in order to gain the governorship for their party. The strange thing is that this governorship would be virtually impotent. Both houses and all other state offices would be controlled by the opposition party.

Smart and strong governors would have terrible probelems making a difference in that situation. Arnold is a political novice who is showing strong tendencies to compromise (if not outright agree) with the left on taxes, immigration, and almost all the social conservative issues.

I am seriously curious what political conservatives expect to accomplish with Arnold as governor. I have been told he will have the veto. Great! But what issues will cause him to use it? He's certainly not saying.

Californians, cast the vote your conscience allows. But please don't just follow the herd on this one. At least have a reason for supporting your candidate more serious than "he can win." So can Bustamante. So did Davis.

[DoughtyOne]

That's my take too, but I don't hawk it much on the forum. The McClintock folks want to think that they have 18% and I'm not even going to attempt to mention that it's probably otherwise. The idea would be rejected and it would cause hard feelings.