Howard Jarvis Endorses Meg Whitman! Why?
I am not suprised by this, but still upset.
I called in to the Eric Hogue show today when he was talking about the impact of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayer’s Association.
I thank Jon Coupal for coming on the air and confirming that no money changed hands before the endorsement. The inference I am seeing around the blogospehere is that I am not the only one that had the Whitman-Bought-It-Endorsement.
Check out the comments on the FlashReport.
My issue – Jarvis is endorsing Arnold all over again. They are judging Meg Whitman on her intentions and Steve Poizner on past actions. BTW – when Steve Poizner ran as a liberal Republican in 2004… Whitman was a DTS voter who skipped that primary, and endorsed Barbara Boxer in writing in that General election! (Whitman also skipped the 2003 recall election as well.
Steve Poizner was first out of the gate with a plan to cut spending and cut taxes. Not Whitman.
Whitman finally agreed to two debates – but only after the HJTA endorsement was made public. However, she continues to script public appearances.
I will support Whitman if she is the nominee – but it looks like starvation rations for Conservatives again.
We’ve been down the Arnold road before and it looks as if the HJTA is leading us there again…
I have started hearing an old familiar phrase on the campaign trail: “I’m a conservative Republican” (emphasis on the ‘conservative). The label “Republican” is polling about as low as it’s ever polled, but its part-time synonym — “conservative” — is the most popular ideological label in american politics.
A Gallup poll found that the number of Americans defining themselves as conservative is at its highest point in 20 years, at 40 percent. That compared to 35 percent saying they are moderate and 21 percent saying they are liberal.
The results track closely with another Gallup poll, from May, which found more Americans defining themselves as “pro-life” than “pro-choice” for the first time since it began asking the question in 1995. And it wasn’t even close — 51 percent to 42.
Is it possible to be a conservative again? I am not sure. Will this trend favor the Republican Party? Not yet. Republicans have not finished paying the price for their lack of fiscal discipline and leadership. The folks in today’s tea party movement are a testiment to the large numbers of conservatives out there who say they are done with the GOP. These folks simply don’t believe in the Republican brand, because in the past what Republicans have said they stand for has not been matched by what they have done while governing in the majority.
It’s time for the Republican party and its candidates to start acting like conservatives and not just telling us they are conservatives. Voters crave the real deal.
Damon Dunn for Secretary of State
The vote was 21-2 with only a procedural objection from one member and Roger Niello through his Ex-Officio objecting to Central Committees endorsing period.
Recently, the Yolo County Republican Central Committee suspended its’ by-laws to Endorse Assemblyman Jim Nielsen for re-election. Recently, the Yuba County Republican Central Committee ammended their by-laws and then endorsed Sam Aanestad for Lt. Governor as well.
The Press Releases will be going out today!
In a side note – the Placer County Republican Central Committee meeting was heavily attended by members of the local Tea Party Movement.
Meg Whitman or Steve Poizner for Governor?
My brother Aaron is a celebrated and maligned Steve Poizner for Governor supporter. Should Poizner be our next Governor? I am not so sure.
Steve Poizner and Meg Whitman have their strengths and weaknesses. Both have been successful in business and have helped to grow the private economy. This is a big deal and both candidates are to be applauded for thier efforts. We need more than just successful business person credentials in our next Governor. Let’s consider a few facts about Poizner and Whitman.
Point One – Whitman is buying supporters. Evidence – the “conservative bloggers” like the Meg County blog in Orange County who only cared about Poizner’s checks to Dems then ignored Whitman’s checks to Dems, the $300K to the Environmental Defense Fund and her glowing adoration of Van Jones etc etc etc. Oh and there is the small matter of her not remembering when she did or did not vote.
Point Two – They are both Pro-Choice, Poizner did say he opposes Taxpayer Funded Abortion, but Whitman has made Abortion a central issue in her campaign. She has gone out of her way to use her pro choice position to sell her candidacy to women’s groups all over the state.
Point Three – Poizner ran unsuccessfully for Assembly in 2004 (when Whitman was not voting) on a far-left platform that was anything but mainstream Republican let alone conservative Republican.
Is Poizner’s move to the right real? Can we say that he is a conservative at all? Will the California Republican Assembly endorse Poizner in a contested primary? Where is Tom McClintock and why hasn’t he weighed in with his endorsement? All conservatives know that McClintock’s endorsement is the Gold standard for Republicans in California.
Neither Poizner nor Whitman offer anything that comes close to the conservative credentials of Governors Elect Bob MacDonald of Virginia and Chris Christy of New Jersey. Perhaps Poizner being the shrewd politician that he is understood this in deciding to hire the consultants that ran the Chris Christy campaign in New Jersey. He may have thought this move was necessary to burnish his message and court the much needed conservative primary vote in June 2010.
I remember what everyone was saying about Schwarzenegger during the 2003 recall campaign. He was touted as a Reagan conservative, the reformer that would fix all that ailed California. I knew at the time this was not so and today we are living with the consequences of his fraudulent conservative credentials. Many good conservatives, like my mother and father, believed the tall tail about Schwarznegger being a Reagan conservative because they had nothing else by which to measure him during the recall. I new in my gut at the time that the real conservative in the race was Tom McClintock and I voted for him and worked hard to support him in the recall election of 2003.
So here we are, the 2010 election cycle has begun in earnest with the new year. Conservatives have a question to answer. Of the financially viable candidates running for Governor, who has the most conservative credentials? Aaron has been saying for some time that the candidate with the most conservative credentials is Steve Poizner. I am not convinced. I need to see more evidence from the candidate.
The Proposition 8 trial is almost Orwellian. Take a look at this except of comments from Andy Pugno, Chief Counsel for Yes on 8:
Several times Judge Walker interrupted the plaintiffs to question whether the state should be “in the marriage business” at all, asking if the plaintiffs would be happy with eliminating marriage altogether-and allowing only domestic partnerships for both man/woman and same-sex couples. Amazingly the plaintiffs testified that would be acceptable to them. They actually said: if same-sex couples can’t have marriage, then no one should. Obviously, the elimination of marriage for everybody is certainly not what the people of California , or the nation, have in mind as an appropriate solution to this debate.
Both from the opening arguments delivered by plaintiffs’ attorney Ted Olson, and the witness testimony, it is clear that our opponents are trying to re-characterize Prop 8-which simply restored the age-old meaning of marriage-as part of a agenda of hate and discrimination against gays and lesbians. One attorney said as much, claiming that Prop 8 promotes hate crimes against gays and lesbians, depression, homelessness, etc. These claims are preposterous, and we hope that they will be seen as such as the trial progresses.
As I blogged previously, the agenda comes out quickly.
Rick Keene is pushing out ahead, making several appearances to grass-roots clubs and countering the Team Ose endorsement list. Recent campaign emails detail appearances in Tehama and Shasta Counties.
Lastly, a Paper in Fresno reports that both Devin Nunes and Tom McClintock will be endorsing Richard Pombo.
Guess what? Now Kevin McCarthy has flipped on Jeff Denham and has endorsed Richard Pombo…
It would not surprise me to see Tom McClintock endorse Pombo. The Devin Nunes endorsement is a complete slap in Denham’s face, coupled with the flip of McCarthy and shows that Devin knows that Pombo will be the true ally to getting the water back on to the Central Valley.
Note that alleged Blue Dogs, Jim Costa and Dennis Cardoza have voted with Pelosi 97% of the time – including joining George Miller in favoring the Bay Area over the farmers of the Central Valley.
Judgement Day is coming – Dennis Cardoza had better be nervous.
Update: Dan Logue’s AB-32 Repeal Bill died a partisan death – paving the way for the California Jobs Initiative to continue rolling forward with signature gathering…