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It is March 27th 1996, Pete Wilson is sitting at his desk, cup of coffee in hand and is admiring the headline of the Sacramento Bee : "WILSON WINS GOP NOMINATION!". It was a hard won fight and had taken every bit of political stamina and skill to defeat Bob Dole. The primary had been bitterly fought and unpleasant to say the least. He had been repeatedly attacked for his more socially liberal views and was called a Republican In Name Only on so many occasions that he had lost count. As he sat at his desk, he pondered the results of the primary election and noted the path taken to win. It wasn't a path a Republican could win on the federal level anymore, he depended too much on states firmly in Democratic hands and practically lost the entire South to Dole with a few exceptions. It was miraculous that he had even managed to get Buchanan's endorsement of all things, mainly thanks to a discussion over immigration on which both men had agreed on most points. However, Wilson had to make some promises to Buchanan, concessions Wilson thought of them as concessions, mainly on social issues. This was the price he had to pay in order to win the primary. Pundits were still scratching their heads over how Wilson won, will this be a continuing trend? This would be a troublesome reality and he needed to correct this. Clinton had swept the South in 1992 and looked set to do it again this November. He needed to win or at least take back some Southern states to have a chance at victory. The sheer magnitude of what was to come hadn't dawned on Wilson yet, as he still rejoiced from his victory the day before.
It was only 7:30 am and his landline was constantly buzzing with calls from strategists offering their services, lobbyists representing special interests and members of Congress seeking to be his Vice-Presidential pick. With a growing hint of annoyance, he politely replied with the truth, he wasn't yet going to make this decision and he wanted to wait until the Republican National Convention in San Diego to make his choice. He looked at the calendar, flipping through the months until he reached August of 1996. 5 months he noted, well actually less than 5 months. He had a lot on his plate, he needed to unite the party behind him and make sure the base actually wanted to vote for him, defeating incumbent president Clinton was going to be a Herculean task for Wilson and he was aware of this. He had a general idea of how to compete with Clinton but deep down, he knew the odds were strongly in favor of Clinton.
A more pressing issue was whether or not he should resign the governorship of California. Many California Republicans were vehemently opposed to this decision. Resignation would lead to a special election and an almost certain Democratic victory in the Golden State. This had happened with his Senate seat in the 1992 special election.Unfortunately, he had burned a lot of bridges with Proposition 187 which killed his chances with Hispanics, even the legal ones that had nothing to worry about. It wasn't even law yet as it was stuck in the courts. This was the point in agreement he had with Buchanan even if the men disagreed on many other things. For now, however, Wilson will remain as Governor of California, the largest state in the Union, this would be strongly benefitial to him as a key strength in the general election.
But for now, he will finish his coffee, continue reading his newspaper and get to work. He'll maybe write an electronic mail to some pollsters and consultants on what his strengths and weaknesses are, which states to tackle and all that stuff. It's becoming time to gear up for November 1996!
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