This morning California Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner has an exclusive column in the FlashReport, The $16 Billion Tax Trick: We Need to Stop the Legislature from Trying to Fool Voters – Again. The column is worth a read. It’s especially notable that in the very first paragraph, Poizner compares Proposition 1A to last year’s failed Proposition 93 (The Fabian Nunez Term Limits Weakening Act, as we must have called it a hundred times). When you consider the lead role that Poizner played in the defeat of 93, which included not only political leadership, but a healthy contribution from Poizner’s personal fortune, it begs the question of whether Poizner will "93" Proposition 1A…
Of course, Meg Whitman has also been quite vocal in her opposition to 1A. While she doesn’t have a specific story like that of Poizner’s role with 93 to draw upon — you have to wonder, given her deep pockets, whether she will weigh in beyond rhetoric.
The opportunity, of course, for both of these ersatz GOP gubernatorial nominees is two-fold. The first is rather obvious — to play a lead role in killing a $16 billion tax increase that is terrible public policy, even if you think there is some merit to the language in the measure that seeks to smooth the boom-bust cycle of state spending.
The other opportunity lies in the fact that this special election gives both of these candidates a chance to engage voters in a dialogue at a time when Poizner will be working to further enhance his relationship with GOP primary voters, and Whitman will be seeking to establish one.
We’ll see how this develops…