For Tom McClintock: May 1940

Posted: November 1, 2006

by WILLIAM E. SARACINO

The California Lion

For Tom McClintock: May 1940

Following years in the relative political wilderness, Tom McClintock’s hour could now be at hand.

William E. Saracino is a member of California Political Review’s editorial board.

Printer Friendly version

“Now at last, at last, his hour had struck. He had been waiting in Parliament for forty years, had grown bald and gray in his nation’s service, had endured slander and calumny only to be summoned when the situation seemed hopeless to everyone but him.”

— William Manchester, The Last Lion.

Tom McClintock is a fan of Winston Churchill, described above in the opening of William Manchester’s magnificent biography. The “now at last” referred to by Manchester was May 1940 when Churchill finally became prime minister. That marked the vindication of Churchill’s years in the political wilderness, on the outs with the sophisticated elites not only of his country, but even of his own party. He had been consigned to that wilderness because he spoke the unvarnished truth and brought attention to inconvenient facts long before Britons were ready to hear that truth or acknowledge those facts.

Tom McClintock has spent years in the relative political wilderness — defeated for statewide office and without a leadership position in the Legislature — essentially for the same reasons. McClintock has never been afraid to speak the unvarnished truth, even if people seemed more comfortable with the fantasies woven in Sacramento. He has never been afraid to insist that facts are facts, regardless of how they contradict the political fad du jour.

In spite of “elite” opinion, by May 1940 the average Briton realized Churchill was right about the woeful state of Britain. Exit polls from the recall election show indisputably that in October 2003 the average Californian knew McClintock was right: about Gray Davis, about Cruz Bustamante, and about the woeful state California had become. Arnold Schwarzenegger won their votes but Tom McClintock won their hearts. Exit polls gave McClintock the highest approval ratings of anyone on the ballot. When asked who they thought would make the best governor, the exit poll respondents named McClintock by a wide margin. In the voting booths the voters were swept away by Arnoldmania, but in their hearts they knew McClintock was right.

Next Tuesday is California’s chance to make November 2006 be May 1940 for Tom McClintock, who has grown gray, though not bald, in the people’s service. Like Churchill, McClintock does not suffer fools lightly (and, I must say, I’ve never understood why doing so is considered a virtue). As a result, he has, along with Sir Winston, endured his share of slander and calumny.

But despite slanders, calumnies, and the enmity of much of the press, average Britons of 1940 came to know that the serious challenges facing them required leaders with serious minds, ideas that promised better times in the future and the courage necessary to stick by those ideas. They knew it was time for Churchill.

The exit polls of October 2003 showed the average Californian knew their state required the remedies, intelligence, and courage of Tom McClintock. But because they thought he could not win — in spite of their admiration and good feelings toward him personally — and because they were desperate to be rid of Gray Davis, Californians took the safe route and voted for Arnold Schwarzenegger. Next Tuesday, voters won’t have to choose between Schwarzenegger and McClintock; they can vote for both.

Upon taking office in 1940 Churchill said he felt his entire career up to that point had been preparation for what lay ahead. It seems so also with McClintock. Rarely has so superbly qualified a candidate come before the voters. And rarely have the voters been afforded such certitude that with McClintock what they see is what they will get. McClintock’s hour, it seems, at last has struck.

But the opposition — the spending lobby, the unions, the Sacramento tax-eaters — know this also, and are moving heaven and earth to defeat him. The GOP rank and file must do its job these last few days, leaving no task undone, no voter uncontacted, if the liberal opposition is to be turned back.

Tom McClintock, like Churchill, possesses the intellectual energy, drive, and eloquence to summon California once again to greatness. Just as May 1940 was a turning point in England’s history, November 2006 can be a turning point in California’s. It might, dare I say, become our finest hour.

CPRSearch

Advanced Search