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From the September 29, 2003, issue of National Review Why Not McClintock? Recall facts. By NR Editors

ast year, California governor Gray Davis vetoed a measure to let illegal immigrants have driver’s licenses, calling it a security threat. This year, he is pandering to Hispanic voters in order to defeat a recall election brought on by his own misgovernance. So he has signed the measure. Arnold Schwarzenegger, the leading Republican candidate to replace Davis, opposed it. (Nobody seems to be advocating the appropriate solution, which is that the illegals be given free rides, back to Mexico.) But Schwarzenegger is still offering little to conservatives — except, now, insults. He came out against Ward Connerly’s Racial Privacy Initiative, which would keep the state government from collecting data on race.

That’s disappointing, but there are honorable opponents of the initiative. What is less excusable is Schwarzenegger’s labeling of its supporters as “right-wing crazies.” The only candidate in the race who isn’t pandering is conservative Tom McClintock. Schwarzenegger skipped a debate with the other candidates in order to avoid giving a spotlight to McClintock. This was wise: The more people hear from McClintock, the more they will understand that he has convictions and knows how the state government should be run. McClintock points out that Schwarzenegger refuses to pledge not to raise taxes — and that it takes a Republican governor to raise taxes in California. We know that McClintock is currently behind Schwarzenegger in the polls. But we also know that if elected, McClintock would fight the spenders and taxers in Sacramento. About Arnold Schwarzenegger we know no such thing.