This just off the transom from the Steve Poizner for Governor Campaign…

TO:                 Campaign Grassroots Team
FROM:           Jim Bognet, Campaign Manager
RE:                 Poizner Campaign Update
DATE:            December 1, 2009

With 2010 on the horizon, it is important to recap our efforts and successes in 2009 and update you on our plans for the coming year:

The Campaign Organization

Designed much like a start-up company, the campaign is lean, focused, and has established specific goals and milestones that will culminate in the June 2010 primary.  As of today, we are on target.  We have the right candidate, messages, and issues for the California electorate.  We continue to develop our infrastructure as planned and are fine-tuning additional policy proposals which we will continue to roll out.  We have done – and continue to do – extensive research on both the market and our competition. This will be evident to all as the campaign moves forward. Our employees are full-time and committed; their professional loyalties are not divided among various clients who compete for their time. In short, the organization reflects the management philosophy of the candidate: focused, dedicated, streamlined, efficient and results-oriented. Not surprisingly, this is also Steve Poizner’s proven approach to governing. 

Proper timing is a central tenet of our plan. We understand that the general public is not paying attention to the 2010 governor’s race – and won’t be until a few months into next year. Californians are focused on raising their families and making ends meet in a difficult economy. While there are a few thousand insiders intently paying attention, the Poizner campaign is quietly progressing while keeping its focus, rather than expending excessive time, energy, and money on inside baseball. 

Stuart Stevens and Russ Schriefer, the Poizner campaign’s chief strategists, were the architects of Chris Christie’s victorious gubernatorial campaign over incumbent New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine. The New Jersey raced proved once again that money is no substitute for a solid candidate and message. Despite being outspent more than two to one, Christie beat Corzine – and his success was in large part due to Stevens and Schriefer’s understanding that a successful campaign promotes the right candidate and the right message at the right time. Timing is crucial. 

Stevens and Schriefer have helped elect more governors and Senators than any Republican or Democratic strategy and media firm. They were media consultants for President Bush’s successful 2000 and 2004 campaigns. They have a history of electing Republican governors in difficult environments – they helped elect the first Republican governor in 25 years in Massachusetts and the first Republican governor in 28 years in Maryland. They have elected governors in Pennsylvania and Florida. They have handled all the races for Governor Haley Barbour, the Chairman of the Republican Governor’s Association.

Early  Spending

Early and excessive spending by the Whitman campaign has had an impact on the polls. While this is to be expected, it is largely meaningless. With the primary still more than seven months away, multiple surveys confirm that the electorate hasn’t engaged and the overwhelming majority of voters are undecided. Whitman’s poll numbers ultimately reflect an increase in name identification, not lasting support. At this point in the race, Name ID means little. Just ask Jon Corzine.    

It is worth remembering that Mayor Richard Riordan was 30 points ahead in the last Republican gubernatorial primary just 4 weeks out from the election. He lost by 18 points.

The history of primaries in California consistently demonstrates that voters focus on the candidates at the last minute. Early spending has never proved to be a road map to success. The last eBay candidate, Steve Westly, spent a fortune early in the race and took a large early lead. He lost in part due to his early spending and in part due to the fact that voters did not find his experience as an eBay executive to be persuasive.

Funding

While much can and has been said about funding, the bottom line is this: Steve Poizner’s campaign will be fully funded. As was the case with the campaigns for Insurance Commissioner and Proposition 93, Poizner’s message will get out. The overwhelming majority of resources will be spent in 2010 when voters are engaged and begin making decisions. 

Over the past five years, Poizner has invested more than $25 million dollars on various voter registration efforts, important ballot initiatives, and his own campaigns. He has a solid reputation as a candidate who shares the values of the voters who will decide this election.

Poizner and Whitman: A Clear Contrast

One cannot help but notice the dramatic contrast between the Poizner and Whitman campaigns. With a singular focus and coherent organization, the Poizner campaign has been consistent and effective. Whitman, on the other hand, has built a huge campaign bureaucracy and is spending more money per day than any candidate at this point in the history of non-presidential politics. Her bureaucracy features an ever-expanding committee of competing consultants who are searching for a direction and a message. To date, Whitman’s political management record is one of spend and grow. This is the exact approach that has bankrupted the state she seeks to lead.  

Poizner’s support of Republican candidates, issues, and organizations is well known. Whitman, however, is at odds with many Republican values. As primary voters begin to focus on the election, she will have to do more than explain why she didn’t vote for most of her adult life. She will have to explain why she endorsed and raised money for Barbara Boxer in 2004, what makes her a “huge fan” of Obama’s disgraced former “Green Czar” Van Jones, why she contributed $300,000 to the Environmental Defense Fund’s Center for Rivers and Deltas that believes there is no man-made drought in the Central Valley, and why she supported the Pete Wilson tax increases – the largest in California history. Whitman will find that Republican primary voters have strong opinions on these issues that are not aligned with her actions.

Whitman’s recent hire of Mike Murphy is seen by many as an acknowledgement of her serious messaging problems. Murphy, whose expertise is in messaging, is said to have been tasked with taking the various and incongruous threads of Whitman’s record and trying to tie them together to create a coherent theme that Republicans will buy.

As a candidate, Poizner has a command of the issues and speaks regularly with the press. Whitman has avoided all debates and even demands radio hosts submit their questions in advance of interviews. This lack of accessibility and spontaneity will not sit well with the general public or the press corps as the campaign progresses. A candidate must be not just willing, but able to speak on the critical issues facing California today.

Summary

Historically, Republican primary voters select the candidate who best articulates and embodies core Republican principles and offers a positive vision to move California forward. Based on his background, electoral history, experience in office, and position on the issues important to Republican primary voters, Steve Poizner is unquestionably that candidate.  

Poizner has the campaign, message, and resources necessary to succeed. And he will.

The challenges facing California are not theoretical to Steve Poizner. He has the experience needed to solve them.  His life in the private and public sectors make him uniquely qualified to lead. Poizner’s company, SnapTrack, introduced the life saving technology that put GPS receivers in 700 million cell phones around the world and has saved hundreds of lives. Yet, at the time he founded that company, many said it was impossible to create such a technology. He proved them wrong.  

Poizner is battle-tested and the only candidate with a demonstrated ability to win a statewide general election in California. He successfully captured Democrat and Independent voters in 2006 when he beat the incumbent Lieutenant Governor by more than one million votes. This may be the most important distinction between the candidates. A Republican cannot win in November without securing cross-over votes – and Steve Poizner is the only candidate in the race who has done this before.

Aside from wining a statewide election as a candidate, Poizner also led the efforts to stop legislative leaders and special interests from undercutting the state’s term limits law (Proposition 93). Despite being behind in the polls, standing against the Sacramento establishment and being outspent 2.5 to 1, Poizner stood firm against any change in term limits without redistricting reform. Once again, the right leader and the right message overcame an onslaught of money.

Poizner is an exceptional candidate and the most legitimate alternative to the status quo. His private sector experience has been well-documented. He has also demonstrated the ability to get things done in government. As Insurance Commissioner he permanently reduced the size of the Department of Insurance’s operations budget by almost 15%, and did so before it was fashionable or necessary. This included a significant reduction in the ranks of the permanent bureaucracy. Poizner didn’t just talk – he quietly delivered. No public fights with labor, no lawsuits and no chest-pumping . . . just results. The model he used at the Department of Insurance can be replicated across state government.

Over the course of the coming months, we will continue to update supporters on important campaign initiatives, policy decisions, and other campaign events.  For more information, please visit our website at www.StevePoizner.com. We are thankful for your support and look forward to working with you as we move towards victory in June.

I’ve attached a letter from our Campaign Chairman, former Republican Leader Jim Brulte which was previously sent out this past June.  No one knows more about California politics than Senator Brulte. I think you’ll find his letter a compelling case as to why Steve Poizner will not only be our next Governor, but why he will be a great one.

As the campaign moves into this next stage, I’d urge you to please contact me or with thoughts or suggestions on the campaign. Your support and insight is invaluable. This is very much a team effort and you are a critical part of the Poizner Team.

Yours,

Jim Bognet
Campaign Manager
Steve Poizner for Governor 2010

This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 1st, 2009 at 12:00 am and is filed under Blog Posts.