What conservative in California has a higher profile than State Senator Tom McClintock? He has been arguably the most articulate, principled conservative in the legislature. Twice he carried the statewide conservative banner as the GOP nominee for State Controller (the last go-around losing to Steve Westly by less than one vote per precinct). Of course, he ran as the conservative candidate in the 2003 recall election, and won praise from not only conservatives but from across the political spectrum for the statesmanlike approach he took to campaigning in that race. Unless Governor Schwarzenegger leaves the GOP, he has a virtual lock on the Republican nomination for Governor in his re-election. McClintock is facing a clear field in his bid to be Arnold’s running mate. (Hmmm… “Schwarzenegger / McClintock” – that makes for a long bumper sticker…) It is clear from all of the news stories offering a prelude to the Governor’s State of the State speech tonight that Schwarzenegger is tacking hard to the political center, and some of his proposals (massive spending, wage hike mandates, etc.) are anathema to a rock-solid intellectual libertarian like McClintock. Still, tonight, McClintock will be much sought-after by the media for his reaction to the specific policy proposals that are officially unveiled. Here is the “McPickle”… If you are Tom McClintock, what do you say about a hike in the minumum wage? About throwing a half-a-billion dollars into after school programs when we still have a structural deficit? What do you say about bonded indebtedness to the tune of tens of billions of dollars (if not more) without any meaningful reduction in the massive uptick in wasteful spending in the last decade especially? As a “running-mate-to-be” you would presume McClintock would not want to be critical of the Governor’s speech, or of any of his policy initiatives. At the same time, the grassroots conservatives who look to him for leadership will be expecting consistency from a statesman who has a reputation for sticking to his guns on policy matters. It’s likely that we will see McClintock try to “thread the needle” and praise certain aspects of the speech while being resolutely silent on areas of disagreement. We’ll see what he says, but it is likely that the politics of the 2006 election will have a muting effect on the normally powerfully persuasive conservative State Senator.
