Here is John J. Miller at the Corner on McClintock: "So McClintock didn’t win and didn’t spoil--seems he wasn’t even a factor. Will he be in the future? I would have voted for him, but a part of me wishes he had endorsed Arnold last week, if only to maintain his viability within the GOP. I want McClintock to have a political future in California, but I fear that he won’t have much of one now. Some folks have suggested that he run for the Senate against Barbara Boxer next year, but I’ve always thought this would be a mistake. McClintock’s strength is on state budget matters, and a race for office in DC wouldn’t play to that. He’s much more suited for state controller, an office he nearly captured last year. The rap on my man all along has been that he’s not a team player, and there’s plenty of truth to it. His reluctance to play with the team usually has been based on sound principle, but now I’m afraid that he’s going to spend the rest of his political career on the backbench. My guess is we’ve heard the last of him, except as an occasional speaker at right-wing confabs. This saddens me. Is anybody more optimistic?"
"I would have voted for him, but a part of me wishes he had endorsed Arnold last week, if only to maintain his viability within the GOP."
The real question is not the "viability" of Sen. Tom McClintock, who is a moral, ethical, and honest politician. It is the "viability" of the GOP in California. A political party who makes a habit of supporting the richest, "least qualified candidate" is "part of the problem and not part of the solution". Of course, I suppose in a State that is depended on "a possible tectonic shift" for relief from its political morass, it is quite possible for the "Party of Lincoln" to shun long range morality and values for a chance at "instant gratification". No wonder it isn’t embarrassed by supporting a "serial groper"!
"He’s much more suited for state controller, an office he nearly captured last year."
Thanks to the total lack of support from the California Republican Party in his 2002 campaign for State Controller. In that camapign, Tom "out-polled" ALL Statewide Republicans, despite being seriously "out spent". Staying loyal to the GOP makes Tom a masochist in my book.