The San Francisco Chronicle notes that carpetbagging conservative blockhead Tom McClintock has opened up campaign committees for a statewide bid in 2010:
Republican state Sen. Tom McClintock, for example, has taken the Boy Scout motto “Be Prepared” to heart by opening 2010 campaign committees for both lieutenant governor and the state Board of Equalization, even while he’s running for a North State congressional seat in November.
Is Tom McClintock already looking for a way to bail from the voters of California’s 4th District? Is he already bored of a job that he hasn’t even started yet?
What would make him think 2010 will be more favorable for right-wing hacks in CA?
McClintock is running for Congress to give him a better springboard for a 2010 statewide run.
The DCCC needs to hammer this and the carpetbagging meme over and over again. This is a district where we can win but only with the DCCC’s help.
that he is going to lose this fall.
One would think that in a red district like this, McClintock would have the upper hand. Is there something in his private polling that says otherwise? If he is about to say “no mas” here of all places, Election Night will be VERY bad for the GOP.
Other commenters seem to think that McClintock is worried about his chances in CA-04, so he’s looking at future alternatives. I think that’s backwards: he assumes he’ll win in a cakewalk so he’s already plotting on how to use the House seat as a springboard. After all, the voters in SoCal keep reelecting him to the State Assembly and the State Senate, even though he has never shown any intention of wanting to represent them for very long (hence his constant attempts at higher office). Make no mistake, McClintock is a special kind of egomaniac who thinks NorCalers won’t mind if he’s not serious about representing them. He’s gonna get a rude surprise in November.
I agree he assume’s going to win John Doolittle’s open seat and is thus already plotting how to use it as a springboard for 2010. McClintock obviously covets statewide office and knows that serving as a member of the minority party won’t provide much satisfaction.
I hope Charlie Brown smokes him in November. Then the Republicans will nominate him to lose yet another statewide office.
OT – Who do you guys think will run for CA-GOV in 2010? I know Gavin Newsom has launched an exploratory committee, but I’d imagine there will be a contested primary including the likes of Newsom, Antonio Villaraigosa and possibly Jerry Brown. I think either of the young big city mayors needs to wait for a possible Feinstein retirement in 2012.
Which Board of Equalization seat is Tom eyeing? If it's in south or central California, he's expecting to lose his race for the 4th Congressional district, but I suspect he's cut his ties to the south in any case and is considering a northern district. By the way, I love that phrase “carpetbagging conservative blockhead.” Says so much.
For governor, Brown, Villaraigosa, and Newsome are all possibilities, as are Garamendi and Bowen. I'd place my money on Villaraigosa but my hopes on Bowen.
For senator two years later, Bowen would be the livest option of those five–plus some Congresspeople, names unspecified at this point. A lot depends on what Feinstein decides to do. She seems to have burned some bridges to the left recently, indicating she's lost some of her former savvy. Perhaps she'll figure out a way to recover.