In the Washington Post, Will compares McClintock to Thatcher and predicts a delay will help his campaign:
McClintock has risen from 8 to 13 to 18 percent and can reach a tipping point — “I don’t know where it is, but I’ll know it when I see it” — where “pent-up” conservatives now gritting their teeth and supporting Schwarzenegger will switch to him. The later the vote, the more Davis will be mired in making unpopular budget choices.
He’s right on a couple of counts: McClintock would be a better governor than Arnie, Cruz, or Gray, and the longer the campaign drags out, the better the chances are that the voters will see that. The better too, that Arnie will lose interest and take up sky-diving. But is a McClintock win the best thing for California?
I like McClintock, and he’s head and shoulders above the other candidates. He’s got a wealth of experience and a sound, coherent theory of government grounded in the Federalist Papers. He’s the only candidate that I’ve ever met and talked with, other than Gray at a campaign stop where I did get to roast him about Singapore. And Will’s right that California needs his medicine. But Will’s missing one thing, and it’s a very big thing: this is California, not Kansas, and the long-term health of California depends on a Republican Party that can put up socially liberal and fiscally conservative candidates. And as good as Tom is on the fiscal side, he’s not the man with the finger on the pulse of California’s social malaise.
I’d vote for Tom over Gray or Cruz, but it’s still hard for me to choose him over Arnie for these reasons. But I suspect I’ll come around if Arnie doesn’t start campaigning like a man possessed, and that means showing up at the debates. He’s missed three so far, and it’s starting to look like he’s got something to hide. Arnie has to shake off the dilettante factor, and so far he’s not making any headway.