Tom McClintock Declares Victory

Placerpundit was able to attend Tom McClintock's press conference today at which he declared victory in the very, very closely contested 4th Congressional District. Placerpundit would stress first and foremost, in this summary, that Congressman-to-be McClintock was extremely gracious in victory, due undoubtedly in part to his experiences on the losing side of hard-fought races. He emphasized that opponent Charlie Brown ran an excellent campaign, and that he and his supporters are clearly sincere and genuine in their beliefs and motivations. Placerpundit notes that this has been a consistent theme throughout McClintock's comments following election day.

McClintock also made a point of thanking outgoing Congressman Doolittle for his help in facilitating the transition.

With respect to legislative philosophy, McClintock's theme was simple: uphold the principles of the founders. Obviously, this means as many different things as there are people who would ponder on it. However, to the extent McClintock may not be a known quantity in some quarters, a couple of remarks in response to press questions were instructive. Asked what he thought the incoming administration might do to stimulate the economy, he sounded a pitch-perfect Reaganesque tone: "get government off our backs". He later elaborated this philosophy by noting, right out of Thomas Sowell, that government doesn't create any wealth - it only redistributes.

This latter point is worth expanding upon. Obviously, it is another way of saying "you can't spend your way to prosperity". One of the Left's great frauds is suggestion that if the wise of Washington could just have a chance to direct national wealth in a more enlightened way - and oh how easy it would be to be more enlightened than the marketplace - greater prosperity could be achieved. Such is to say, in effect, "government is efficient", because government is wise, and populated by people who are not only smart, but uniformly public-spirited. May I say, "what a crock"?

McClintock's point on this score was to note what commense sense should make plain: it is a very tricky business to suppose that by taking money from one bucket and putting it in another, a central government can increase the sum of society's wealth as it by definition thwarts the will of the marketplace.

Based on his remarks, and McClintock's history as a fiscally responsible free market conservative, Placerpundit expects Congressman McClintock to be a fresh voice for a new Republican brand that will not easily suffer fiscally irresponsible, central-planning based solutions.