Contributors
Hugh Hewitt - Principal Contributor

Mr. Hewitt is senior member of the CaliforniaRepublic.org editorial board.

An Oration over the Career of Tom McClintock
With apologies to the Bard...
[Hugh Hewitt] 09/03/03

Friends, conservatives, Californians, look up from your screens;
I come to praise Tom McClintock, not to bury him;
The mischief that some men make is forgotten;
For others it becomes their only reputation,
So might it be with Tom McClintock.

There are many at FreeRepublic and elsewhere who claim that only Tom deserves a vote;
If that were so, for him I would surely vote;
But grievously would our state answer for that vote,
With Cruz enthroned and ruling.

Here, for a moment free of the shouts of the Tombots,
(For the Tombots cannot be everywhere, in fact their numbers are few)
I come to speak of Tom's career.

It is a fine career, and not for prematurely ending.

Tom McClintock is a young man, with many opportunities ahead for leading;
But Tombots say he must lead now, and Tombots are honorable men.

Tom McClintock has led many fights, and has come close to winning an election statewide.

He has given many great speeches.

But he cannot win now. He is not even close.

Ambition should be made of sterner, clear-eyed stuff.

The Tombots say press on, and grand statements make of not surrendering.

And Tom desires not to disappoint them.

The Tombots are honorable men;
I speak not to disprove what the Tombots say.

They do genuinely love Tom, and not without reason.

What reason withholds them then from speaking reason to him?

O judgment! thou art fled to brutish beasts,

And Tombots have lost their reason.

Bear with me.

My heart is in the coffin there with California,
The one the Tombots are bearing.

CaliforniaRepublic.org Principal Contributor Hugh Hewitt is an author, television commentator and syndicated talk-show host of the Salem Radio Network's Hugh Hewitt Show, heard in over 40 markets around the country. His opinions on national issues can be found at HughHewitt.com and he writes a weekly column (Wednesdays) for WorldNetDaily.com.