Free Republic

With the race for lieutenant governor in the balance, Democrat John Garamendi is spending the campaign's final weekend arguing that he's a bigger supporter of Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger than his GOP opponent, state Sen. Tom McClintock. A press release Friday listed 11 issues where the insurance commissioner supports the governor and McClintock disagrees, including Schwarzenegger's backing for an increase in the minimum wage, new controls on global warming, stem cell research and all but two of the governor's five bond measures. (snip) McClintock's willingness to say exactly what he thinks, along with his ability to talk clearly about financial...

These guys should be running for governor: Democratic Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi and Republican state Sen. Tom McClintock. They'd make the race a lot more interesting — less predictable, much closer, more focused, offering a clearer choice of views and visions. (snip) These candidates are interesting in themselves — both knowledgeable, thoughtful, experienced policy wonks. As insurance commissioner, Garamendi helped write workers' compensation reform, has forced down homeowners' premiums and decreed that auto rates should be based on driving records, not where a motorist resides. McClintock, a longtime conservative legislator from Thousand Oaks, was the crusader who deserves the most...

Despite conservative views, McClintock in dead heat with Democratic opponent Garamendi SACRAMENTO - Californians could be on the cusp of electing the state's most conservative lieutenant governor in nearly 30 years -- a candidate who is firmly to the right of most of the state on issues such as abortion, the environment and government spending. State Sen. Tom McClintock, arguably the most popular conservative in the state, is running neck and neck in his race with Democrat John Garamendi, the term-limited state insurance commissioner. Although considered by many to be a powerless post, the lieutenant governor does become the state's...

Providence Publications Endorses Tom McClintock With only 14 days until the election it as appears as though the end of the elected John Garamendi may be at hand. While the industry gets ready to cheer his exit from the stage the danger still exists that he'll become Lt. Governor. As many readers know this publisher is a life long Republican who spent 10 months volunteering as Chief Insurance Advisor to Garamendi during his last campaign. I got to know Garamendi well and to like him as a person. He is extraordinarily bright, and some of my favorite memories are the...

On Monday, California's lieutenant governor candidates, Democrat John Garamendi and Republican Tom McClintock, debated before the San Francisco Chronicle's Editorial board at the CBS 5 studios in San Francisco.

"If I don't get it this time, I'll have to fire my pollster," McClintock said with a laugh. McClintock, 50, is not known for jollity. The stiff, bookish and somewhat iconoclastic lover of tax-policy debates is the un-Garamendi. . . . He is a darling of conservative talk radio, with his erudite railings against government spending and illegal immigration. And there is a sense that he has fashioned an image as a refreshingly unglamorous Mr. Straight Shooter, whose appeal transcends his philosophical base, intriguing independent voters who disdain everything slick and opaque in politics. "He doesn't come off as a...