If Schwarzenegger were running "as a Democrat, conservatives wouldn't touch him with a 10-foot pole," said James Dobson, founder of the evangelical ministry Focus on the Family and one of those in Colorado who endorsed McClintock on Friday. "The only reason for conservatives to vote for him would be because they're desperate for a win....
"Everybody's saying McClintock can't win. If all of the conservatives who are complaining about him would vote for him, I believe he would pull it off," Dobson said.
Viguerie said Schwarzenegger "could wreak havoc on conservatives, like Pete Wilson did -- go out and try to organize primary opposition against conservatives and try to put the conservative leaders out of business by withholding party money from them."
Among members of the Council for National Policy who were hosts at Friday's fund-raiser, a posh reception at the Broadmoor Hotel in Colorado Springs, were Irvine businessman Howard Ahmanson Jr.; Gary Bauer of the Washington think tank American Values, a political leader among religious conservatives; Lewis K. Uhler, president of the National Tax Limitation Committee; and Reed Larson, president of the National Right to Work Committee.
The private organization was founded in 1981 by a small group of Californians and Western multimillionaires who made up then-President Ronald Reagan's advisory "kitchen cabinet." Its president is Donald Hodel, who was Interior secretary under Reagan. About 500 council members attended Friday's fund-raiser. McClintock received a sustained standing ovation when he was introduced.
McClintock called the response "astonishing" and said he was seeking help from the conservative leaders because they share a fiscal and moral philosophy -- and he needed the money.
Saturday, at a $50-a-plate fund-raiser at a La Canada Flintridge home, where a country band played "Okie from Muskogee," McClintock said the rush of new donations would allow him to reach his $4-million campaign goal, adding, "All we have to do is get our message out. We don't have to outspend them."
Schwarzenegger campaign spokesman Sean Walsh downplayed McClintock's candidacy in a conference call with reporters Saturday. "I don't believe Mr. McClintock is in range or that he will be that significant in the election," Walsh said.
McClintock welcomed the comments, saying: "Well good, then they shouldn't be concerned about my continuing the race and now people are free to vote their conscience."
