Ose focuses on McClintock's character in new district-wide letter

With the primary fast approaching, Doug Ose’s campaign is pushing the idea that his Republican opponent Tom McClintock has character flaws making him unfit to serve in office.

The allegations were made in a letter signed by Republicans Madge Schaffer, a former Thousand Oaks mayor, Greg Stratton, a former Simi Valley mayor, and Judy Mikels, a former Simi Valley councilmember, and distributed by the Ose campaign. (Read the letter here.)

It seeks to paint McClintock, a former Assemblyman who has represented the Thousand Oaks area in the state Senate for the last eight years, as an ineffective public official who is arrogant, self-centered, and frustrating to work with. 

“When we would visit Tom’s office asking for assistance with local problems, he was unwilling to help, unless there was something in it for him,” the letter reads. “Be warned, Tom McClintock has no interest in representing your area. He doesn’t know your issues or care about your problems. This is all about him and his obsession to stay on the government payroll.”

But McClintock, in an interview with PolitickerCA.com Thursday, said the letter was evidence that the Ose campaign was flailing.

“I think it’s a sign of desperation on the part of the Ose campaign. And the more desperate they become, the more shrill they become,” said McClintock.

McClintock also said he had a history with one of the letter’s signers, pointing out that Mikels ran a failed challenge for his Assembly seat in 2000.

The letter, which the Ose campaign unveiled in a Thursday conference call with reporters, is part of a larger argument the Ose campaign is making: that McClintock, who has served in office for 22 years, is a lifetime politician who has lost touch. Ose, a land developer and former Congressman, has repeatedly slammed McClintock for taking per diem payments from the state.

On the conference call, Schaffer and Stratton emphasized that message.

“The real issue from my perspective is that when there is something the local communities wanted to do…Tom wasn’t there at all. And you had the feeling he didn’t want to be bothered with it,” said Stratton.

Though the Ose campaign is distributing the letter, the two said they had decided to formulate it independently of the campaign because with the June 3 primary approaching people had been encouraging them to bring the issues to light.

“There are a lot of people quietly behind the scenes who are saying to us, ‘Thank you for doing this,’” said Schaffer.

But several state lawmakers PolitickerCA.com spoke to on Thursday disputed that characterization.

“He’s a great guy,” said Republican Assemblyman Ted Gaines, a McClintock ally. “He’s been friendly and cordial. It’s an open relationship.”

“He’s very good to his employees. He’s very good to work for,” said Tony Strickland, a Republican Assemblyman and former McClintock aide who is now running for the Senate seat McClintock is being termed out of. “I would not be in politics today if it were not for Tom McClintock.”