The Fire and Brimstone Candidate? - Ben, the more I hear about your hometown state senator, the more horrified I become. Yesterday morning, NPR ran a story about how gubernatorial candidate Tom McClintock has become the star du jour among social conservatives nationwide. Now there's this LA Times article (free registration required) about the aide who wants the United States to be a theocracy.

So much for my needing to be defensive about Virginia's politicians -- or for believing California's were somehow more progressive. While we all know Tom McC can't actually win, he has so far refused to bow out in support of the Governator. Did you see how the Traditional Values Coalition -- your local version of our Christian Coallition -- has actually launched attack ads against gay-friendly Ahnuld? That says a lot about how powerful the lunatic right-wing is within GOP politics, especially in California. While liberals might take some comfort that the bible-thumpers would rather lose than see a socially liberal Republican get power, moderates should decry the highjacking of centrist politics by extremes on either side.