Posted on 09/29/2003 3:46:57 PM PDT by churchillbuff
McClintock Answers Davis' Bid To Debate Schwarzenegger Conservative Passion, Large Crowds Keep McClintock In Recall Race
3:14 p.m. PDT September 29, 2003
SAN FRANCISCO -- Conservative state Sen. Tom McClintock at a Monday afternoon press conference surprised those who thought he would be announcing that he was dropping out of the recall race when he announced that he wanted to take Arnold Schwarzenegger's place in debating Gov. Gray Davis.
Last week, Davis posed a challenge to Schwarzenegger to debate with him, stating that Schwarzenegger apparently had more pressing matters, McClintock said he would be happy to take Schwarzenegger's place.
"If Governor Davis is serious about wanting to debate these issues, the debate's on... If he's not serious about it, we'll just have to take that into account on election day. The more discussion among the candidates, the better."
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Transcript Of Sept. 24 Recall Debate Did last week's debate affect your decision on how to vote? Questions And Answers About The Recall Who will you vote for in the recall election? Latest Recall Video Reports Recall Video Reports In Espanol IMAGES: California Governor Recall Davis Recall: What Do You Think? Key Recall Election Details California Secretary of State California Voter Foundation Official Recall Voter Information Guide Find Your Polling Place Get Complete Recall Coverage --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
With little more than a week left in California's recall race, Arnold Schwarzenegger is trying to make his victory seem inevitable. But his Republican rival isn't going away.
McClintock has stuck firmly -- and some say, obstinately -- to his pledge to race to the end, even at the risk of splitting the Republican vote and allowing Democrats to stay in power even if Gov. Gray Davis is recalled.
"The CNN poll also clearly shows that if every Californian who believed I was the best qualified to be Governor actually voted for me, we'd win," countered McClintock on Monday.
"I have never been popular in the country club wing of the Republican party," McClintock said in interview Sunday before another full day of campaigning. "I've always drawn my strength from grassroots voters, and I'm quite content with that."
The pressure on McClintock to drop out and throw his votes to Schwarzenegger -- a political rookie whose moderate views are shared by many Democrats -- has been intense. Most high-level GOP endorsements have gone to Schwarzenegger, who has led McClintock in every poll, and Republican strategists warn darkly that his career could suffer if he stays in.
But McClintock, a 47-year old career politician who has proven his hardline conservative credentials during almost 17 years in the state legislature, refuses to bow to critics who call him the Ralph Nader of the Republican party.
In the game of political metaphors, he prefers to think of himself as Seabiscuit -- the scrappy California race horse who outran the Establishment. The recall election has catapulted McClintock into prominence and given him a platform to articulate his anti-tax, anti-abortion, pro-gun philosophy to millions of voters he believes will be receptive to his message.
"I believe in the final days of the campaign we'll see a lot of voters who prefer me but doubt I can win coming back in droves," McClintock said. "The crowds have been phenomenal. They say 'don't you dare drop out, we need someone to believe in.'"
Allan Hoffenblum, a GOP strategist and publisher of the authoritative Target Book guide to state elections, warns that McClintock has let the rush of publicity fool him into believing his chances are far better than they are.
"It's called candidate-itis, and it's a severe disease," Hoffenblum said. "What he badly misreads is how much Republicans want this win, and how Tom appears at times to be in the way."
Through wide exposure on television and radio interviews and a strong performance in two major debates, McClintock has emerged as a solid third in most polls, with Schwarzenegger and Democratic Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante running about even. But a Gallup poll released Sunday showed Schwarzenegger way ahead of the rest of the field.
In the coming days, it will be even harder for McClintock to catch up. He badly trails Davis, Schwarzenegger and Bustamante in campaign cash, and the din of paid advertising by the three could easily drown out McClintock's. McClintock has one television advertisement running statewide, but his "buy" has been dwarfed by the other candidates.
McClintock has benefited from his growing status as a national conservative icon. On Saturday, he was a headliner at a meeting of the Council for National Policy, a national conservative activist organization. The event, held in Colorado Springs, drew conservative heavyweights including James Dobson of Focus on the Family, former Reagan energy secretary Donald Hodel, and Richard Viguerie, founder of the Moral Majority. A fund raising reception at the meeting netted over $100,000 for his campaign, McClintock said.
"When I was walking through the airport in Colorado Springs, people were coming up to me and saying 'You're Tom McClintock!' and I would say to them, 'What part of California are you from?"' McClintock recounted. "They'd tell me they were from places like Texas and Tennessee. I don't know what it is about this race that has the whole nation watching."
The Schwarzenegger campaign has hinted broadly in recent days that McClintock should exit the race. Schwarzenegger himself said "I think McClintock should think about it seriously," after a town hall meeting last week in Sacramento.
But in the closing days of the campaign, his aides insist McClintock won't distract them.
"Whether he stays or goes doesn't change the way we campaign," said Schwarzenegger campaign spokesman Sean Walsh. "Our goal is to conclude this election with all Californians saying Arnold is the right choice to replace Gray Davis."
Hoffenblum warned that McClintock will face serious consequences if Schwarzenegger loses and McClintock is blamed, particularly among the moderate GOP voters who make up the majority of his Ventura County state Senate district.
"I believe there would be a significant number of Republicans in his district who would sit on their hands when he's up for re-election," Hoffenblum said. "They're not going to want him to be their state senator, is the bottom line."
McClintock shrugs off these kinds of predictions as "terrorist threats" from people who've never liked him anyway, and repeats his vow to race to the finish.
"I've always found wisdom in the motto on Davy Crocket's pocketwatch that was found in the debris of the Alamo," McClintock said, "'Be sure you're right, and go ahead.'"
I think it's marvelous how all this is developing. It's got elements of drama and switcheroos that no piece of fiction could ever pull off. It is no wonder the whole world is watching.
You'll get through this old buddy. Strictly speaking, it's not in our hands, yet we all get to do our part.
Cheer up D1.
First, Arnold would never debate ole Grayout, nor should he. A political axiom is that the leader should never give the loser face-time if not necessary.....and Davis is losing bad, as the polls show.
Second, McClintock debating Gray will just give the Dem more exposure and publicity right before the election.
IMO, Arnie is running a damn good campaign and making all the right moves. His timing is perfect....his campaign is beginning to peak at exactly the right time, a week before election. He's not letting the Davis camp or the McC camp or the liberal media run his strategy.
By contrast, McC's silly, last-minute proposal to help get free publicity for himself, Davis PLUS the anti-recall effort is a sign of muddle-headedness to me.
Leni
I'm starting to wonder if you haven't completely lost track of what is true, D1. I see so much twisted spin in your posts these days it makes me dizzy.
Prop 22 was close.
I think you probably meant to say "many".
One of the many problems with the infighting here on FR is the playing field. Many, especially the out of state crowd, are looking exclusively at the governor's race and others are looking at the future of the CRP and the role that the far right will play in the party.
At present the far right is not well represented in the CRP but has advanced their conservative causes through direct, grass roots action. Simon's candidacy, the recall process and now the referendum of SB60 are but three recent examples.
As a member of that minority I fear that if Bush gains control of the party from the present leadership not only will the CRP continue to be leary and unsupportive of the highly active and vocal minority but with take direct steps to suppress that minority.
Anything that McClintock's candidacy can do to force Bush to reign in his stalking horse (Schwarzenegger) or publically compromise with the far right will be a welcomed move by me.
Unless it can be argued that McClintock has a chance to pull out the victory, then I'm prepared to argue that he's going far beyond any promise to stick it out to the end.
I just don't like the implications of what Tom is doing here. He's taking large sums of money from the Indians when he knows full well that they're giving much more to Bustamante. Now we see a last ditch effort to win back voters who support Arnold.
What more could Bustamante ask for? Tom is doing absolutely everything that Bustamante could dream of.
Eleventh commandment? You contine to have zero credibility on this issue. As I stated to you weeks ago, it's one thing to lie to me, but you should at least be honest with yourself.
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Wipes the smiles right off the faces of supporters of BOTH Davis and Schwarzenegger.
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