McClintock and Ueberroth: The Conservatives

One candidate drops from the race, leaving conservatives with only one option

While Democrats in California are joining in their opposition to the recall of Governor Gray Davis and their support of Lieutenant Governor Cruz Bustamante as his replacement in the event the recall succeeds, Republican hopefuls have divided their party faithful.

Until last week, Republican voters were confronted with three viable alternatives: actor Arnold Schwarzenegger, former baseball commissioner Peter Ueberroth, and state senator Tom McClintock. Ueberroth, however, withdrew from the race last week, having seen little rise in his popularity.

The Ueberroth campaign cited several reasons for their candidates withdrawal. First and foremost appeared to be the candidate's inability to separate himself from McClintock.

"Both of them appealed to the same group of voters, you know, the Limbaugh crowd" said Ueberroth's campaign manager, Terry Hughes. "Plus, a lot of people got them confused. We got mail addressed to Tom Ueberroth and we understand that McClintock has gotten mail addressed to Peter McClintock."

There were other problems, among them the web site developed for Ueberroth.

"We learned was that most people couldn't spell 'Ueberroth' and so they couldn't find us on the web," explained Hughes. "Some of the checks we received were made out to 'Uteroth' or 'Youbroth' or my personal favorite 'You-Be-Roth'."

McClintock's campaign was all too eager to welcome the Ueberroth supporters to their camp.

"We hope Peter's supporters will strongly consider becoming McClintock supporters," said Andy Corndale, a top McClintock advisor. "We're trying to position McClintock as the anti-Arnold candidate. He's that clean cut, boring conservative, who's against abortion, the environment, taxes, and labor, actually a lot of things that most Californians favor."

Indeed, some pundits have questioned whether McClintock can win given that he holds views that most Californians do not share.

"He definitely appeals to the radical right wing nut cases," said Democratic strategist Larry McTool. "He'll do well in Kern County and probably Orange County, but I can't see his appeal in the rest of California."

Return to the Main Page