McClintock: Congressional race about GOP's future

Tom McClintock sees the June 3 primary election as more than a referendum on who can best can represent the interests of the 4th Congressional District in Washington.

It's about the future of the Republican Party, which is at crossroads after losing its way since President George W. Bush took office in 2001, he said Wednesday, .

"This is really becoming ground zero over the control of the Republican Party and, ultimately, the nation," McClintock said before joining Assembly candidate Dan Logue and Minuteman co-founder Chris Simcox at the Trolley Junction restaurant in Nevada City for a "Secure our Borders" rally.

McClintock, who represents a Southern California district in the state Senate, is seeking the GOP nomination for the northeastern California congressional district. He's running against former Congressman Doug Ose, businessman and musician Ted Terbolizard of Cedar Ridge and Suzanne Jones, a Citrus Heights lawyer.

McClintock and Ose by far are raising the most money - and then using it to attack each other.

Ose, a developer who spent three terms in Congress representing the 3rd Congressional District in the Sacramento area, cast the race differently.

"This is a battle of who has the knowledge, the contacts and the understanding to best represent this district," Ose, 52, said. "I'm the only candidate who has experience in the private sector, and in the past, that's what the Republican Party has labeled conservative."

McClintock paints Ose as a "liberal Republican." This week, his campaign released two new television commercials, "The Real Conservative" and "The Smear," which accuses Ose of distorting the senator's record.

Ose has aired commercials calling McClintock a "carpetbagger" and a career politician with no real connection to the district.

McClintock said his conservative credentials put him in touch with voters. He also expressed disappointment with Congress and the White House.

"The Republican majority in Congress did the opposite of what they said they would do when they took power," he said, citing massive deficit spending and an abuse of earmarks.