Originally Posted By Darkbeer <a href="http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/op-ed/editorial1/20061017-9999-lz1ed17top.html" target="_blank">http://www.signonsandiego.com/ news/op-ed/editorial1/20061017-9999-lz1ed17top.html</a> >>Californians have benefited greatly from having a smart, able maverick as a governor the last three years. We think we would also benefit from having two more such mavericks – of wildly different varieties – as attorney general and lieutenant governor... ...the lieutenant governor has little to do beyond break tie votes in the Senate and serve on the boards of the University of California and California State University. This is why both candidates, Sen. Tom McClintock, R-Thousand Oaks, and Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi, a Democrat who is a generally well-regarded 32-year veteran of state politics, say they would use the job as a bully pulpit for their causes. Oddly enough, the unusual nature of the post makes it perfectly suited to McClintock's strengths. His sharp-edged social conservatism and recent immigration grandstanding aren't our cup of tea, and his unpolitician-like contempt for the very idea of compromise on crucial issues makes him unlikely to be an effective CEO. Nevertheless, his main cause is and always has been the need for honest and prudent state budgets that put taxpayers' interests ahead of public employee unions' and don't depend on gimmicks to hide red ink. California is one mild recession away from a $10 billion-plus annual deficit. The state also has been studiously ignoring a coming crisis in paying for the health care of public employee retirees, which the Legislative Analyst's Office estimates will cost at least $6 billion a year to address. We could go on in this vein, but our point is plain: Despite all the happy talk out of Sacramento in recent months, the long-term budget picture is best described as grim. This is why more than ever California needs a passionate fiscal conservative in the bully pulpit. McClintock could not be more suited for the role.<<
Originally Posted By Darkbeer <a href="http://www.dailynews.com/portlet/article/html/fragments/print_article.jsp?articleId=4497797&siteId=200" target="_blank">http://www.dailynews.com/portl et/article/html/fragments/print_article.jsp?articleId=4497797&siteId=200</a> >>WHEN it comes to down-ticket statewide offices in the Nov. 7 general election, partisan pedigrees aren't the best way to determine the best. The following recommendations are based on which of the top candidates seemed most prepared and able for the job, and who would do it with the most honesty and integrity. Tom McClintock for lieutenant governor: Every candidate for this second-in-command job says they are going to make the position less ceremonial and use the bully pulpit to push important policy. We believe that McClintock, the longtime legislator from Thousand Oaks, will actually do it. The Republican state senator particularly wants to focus on cutting taxes and reducing the state's debt load, two things that have been out of control in California. As well, the conservative would be a good foil to the prevailing fiscally freewheeling pols in Sacramento and makes him the choice over Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi, a Democrat with a long record of public service. <<
Originally Posted By Darkbeer <a href="http://www.newspress.com/Top/index.jsp" target="_blank">http://www.newspress.com/Top/i ndex.jsp</a> >>Mr. McClintock is running for lieutenant governor. He has a good shot at winning. He nearly won the state controller's job in 2002 and, after that, ran a campaign for governor in the Gray Davis recall election that generated positive attention across the state. On the downside, a McClintock win would mean a special election early next year to fill the 19th Senate seat. We have concerns about the names being tossed out to succeed Mr. McClintock and whether the candidate pool is deep enough right now to find a good replacement. Beyond this more parochial worry, though, the News-Press believes Mr. McClintock will be an asset to our region and our state as lieutenant governor. His performance during the Davis recall election and his last years in office demonstrate that Mr. McClintock will be a voice for fiscal responsibility, no matter if at times that means taking on Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, his own party or the Democratic leadership. Mr. McClintock in August noted: "Never has there been a more important choice than the one the people of California will decide just 81 days from now. It is a choice between a leadership team with a proven record of reducing the taxes and regulations that have been crushing Californians, and a leadership team with a proven record of increasing those burdens. That is the choice for voters this fall. And it is a choice that will determine the future of California for decades to come." It's a clear and important choice. Tom McClintock for lieutenant governor.<<
Originally Posted By cmpaley What a surprise! The extremist right-wing McClintock isn't worthy of being Dog Catcher, let alone one heartbeat away from being Governor of California. Of course, that could be the plan. McClintock becomes Lt. Gov. and Schwarzenegger resigns, leaving the most radically right-wing person imaginable in charge of California. That would be very, very BAD for anyone who has less than $1,000,000 in liquid assets.
Originally Posted By jonvn It doesn't matter who is running or what they think, as long as they label themselves "Republican," apparently that is the only qualification you need for some people.
