Sen. McClintock draws a crowd in Menlo Park Sen. McClintock draws a crowd in Menlo Park (August 03, 2005)

By Katie Bearman

Special to the Almanac

"Once you begin scratching the surface, Californians and Americans are much more conservative than they think they are," said state Sen. Tom McClintock, R-Simi Valley, to a gathering of more than 130 Republican women in Menlo Park on Friday.

He pointed out that 40 percent of the votes he received in the 2003 gubernatorial recall election came from non-Republicans.

"That's why we can still say this is Reagan country," he told members of the Peninsula Republican Women's Federation at a luncheon event at the Sharon Heights Golf and Country Club.

Sen. McClintock, who plans to run for state lieutenant governor next year, said the upcoming election is as critical a turning point for California as was the recall election in 2003.

He said he hopes residents can restore California to the "Golden State it really was" in the 1960s, when it had the finest highway system in the world, free college education for every Californian, and cheap electricity and water.

He lamented the exodus of many Californians to other states, and said that state deficits and rampant illegal immigration are catastrophic for California.

"People realize it's fight or flight time in California," he said. "Some people are fleeing, but this state is worth fighting for."

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