California Insider - A Deal in the Works?
Seeds of a deal?
People listening closely to Tom McClintock throughout the campaign know that he’s always implied he believed voters would drop him for Arnold Schwarzenegger on Election Day if they concluded that he had no chance to win. Now he’s made that very clear in an appearance on Fox News Channel’s “Hannity & Colmes” show:
“There'd be no need to pull out in that case,” McClintock said of the possibility that he remains a distant third. "My support would go to Arnold if it looks like Arnold's the only hope of stopping Cruz Bustamante, and I think Arnold's support would come to me if our momentum continues and they realize they can actually have their first choice and he can win."
While some people might not take seriously the senator’s belief that “Arnold’s support would come to me,” McClintock’s take might contain the seeds of a peace pact between the two leading Republican candidates.
What if the two candidates, after this weekend’s Republican convention, issued a joint statement pledging to focus their campaigns against Bustamante and not one another, and urging their supporters to unite on Election Day behind whichever candidate they (the voters) believed had the best chance of winning?
This would end the talk of getting McClintock out of the race, save Arnold from Tom’s sniping, and unite the party behind its common cause. McClintock, through his comments, is already signaling as much to his supporters. For Arnold to do so would seem to be a risk: he could elevate McClintock by implicitly acknowledging that the senator might have a chance to win. But since most people don’t think McClintock does have a chance, all Arnold would really be doing is gaining Tom’s support for joining forces at the end.
Another option: the two could agree this weekend to throw their support behind whichever Republican candidate is leading in the average of the three most recent independent polls by some date, say Oct. 1. Again, a stacked deck for Arnold, since he is leading handily in the polls. But also a way for Schwarzenegger to show he’s not afraid to compete, a chance for McClintock to pull off an upset, and a graceful way to end the feuding with no hard feelings.
sacbee.com |
