CA-Gov: Whitman, Poizner Play to GOP Base
GOP California gubernatorial hopefuls Meg Whitman and Steve Poizner try to secure conservative support.
Republican gubernatorial candidates Meg Whitman and Steve Poizner attempted to please their party's conservative base with attacks on "liberal environmentalists," taxes, and government regulation.
Whitman, the former CEO of the online auction website eBay, claimed that economic and environmental concerns are in competition between each other in red meat attacks to shore up her right flank amid a deepening employment crisis in the state. Whitman is looking to rebound from an abysmal week to close out the month of September.
Unemployment in California reached double-digits this past February -- and hit a 70-year high last month -- caused largely because of lax regulations that allowed a daisy chain of events that lead to the housing and financial institution collapse.
Last November, Barack Obama secured a landslide victory in the electoral college, including the largest margin of victory in the state of California in decades, arguing this very point.
Given this historical context, it is a remarkable commentary on the current state of California Republican Party when a leading gubernatorial candidate like billionaire Steve Poizner outlined an "economic plan" that amounts to nothing more than failed Bush-era corporate giveaways that led the nation astray the past eight years.
Both Whitman and Poizner will try to build up their own conservative credentials and attempt to paint their opponent as an "unacceptable" option for primary voters.
Expect Poizner to play to the base more stridently as he trailed both the front-runner Whitman and former congressman, Tom Campbell, in an August poll, and faces questions regarding a donation to the Gore/Lieberman recount fund.
(Ed. note: If interested in next year's California gubernatorial race, read the very excellent GOP12 blog. Fantastic coverage.)
