Underfunded and overshadowed, conservative state Sen. Tom McClintock has kicked off his gubernatorial campaign with a strategy that tries to turn the huge media focus on Arnold Schwarzenegger to his own advantage -- appearing on radio and television as the actor's conservative counterpoint.
The good news for the veteran anti-tax crusader from Thousand Oaks is that broadcasters have been eager to give him a platform.
In the first five days after Saturday's candidate-filing deadline, McClintock has appeared about two dozen times on the electronic media, including half a dozen spots on some of the nation's most visible news-talk programs.
Witty if a bit stiff, he uses each appearance to precisely repeat his campaign themes, usually with the same words: By cutting California's bloated bureaucracy, the state could quickly rebound from this year's $38-billion budget shortfall.
The bad news, however, is that while talk show hosts welcome McClintock as a conservative spokesman, few seem to accept his belief that he can actually win. And some past donors don't seem ready to bankroll a campaign that many Republicans believe could simply end up playing the role of spoiler.
Yet, at least so far, McClintock has had considerable success in taking advantage of the surge of media attention directed at California's unprecedented recall election.
"I'm not exhausted; I'm feeling exhilarated," he said. "Every other campaign I've felt like I was putting energy into it. This one feels like I'm getting energy out of it."
On Monday he appeared with Lou Dobbs on CNN, with radio shock jock Michael Savage and taped a segment for ABC News; on Tuesday, he talked politics on MSNBC with Pat Buchanan and Bill Press, squeezed in interviews with KABC's Larry Elder and KFI's John and Ken, then closed the day chatting with national Fox News anchorwoman Greta Van Susteren.
On Wednesday, he did four radio news interviews during morning drive time, talked for an hour with syndicated radio host Michael Medved in the afternoon, then did three more radio interviews before dark.
His Thursday began with a 5:20 a.m. appearance on the nationwide Fox & Friends TV show, the first of eight radio or TV appearances that day.
McClintock said he can see the monetary benefits of his media blitz. "We've gotten roughly $200,000 this week," he said Thursday afternoon. "We received $15,000 in small contributions over the Internet last night."
