[Cross-posted from RedCounty.com]
Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner’s gubernatorial campaign spent much of last year rubbing up against conservative opinion leaders, trying to shed the skin of his earlier political incarnation as a center-left Republican and convince the rank-and-file that the metamorphosis is genuine.
And doing a pretty good job of it. For example, he’s put forward solid budget and economic proposals that would, if adopted, put California on a path to economic growth and stable, balanced budgets.
Unfortunately for Poizner, the past isn’t so easily banished: Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O’Connell is calling for passage of state Sen. Joe Simitian’s state constitutional amendment to lower the threshold for passing parcel taxes from two-thirds to just 55%.
This is exactly the same proposal Poizner pushed as a leader of Taxpayers for School Improvement (along with Simitian) back in 2004. As Poizner said in a debate during his 2004 Assembly race:
“I’m proud to be his partner [Mr. Simitian] on trying to drive down the threshold from 67 percent to 55 percent for local school parcel taxes.”
Here’s the YouTube video:
Yes, I realize Poizner has repented of his past political sins and been baptized in the waters of conservatism.
You can read the rest here.
January 27th, 2010 at 12:00 am
This is an example of poor journalism, ala MSNBC. While posing as a news story, including a video, the basic “fair and balanced” Fox News rules are ignored. Mr. Poizner should have been interviewed and given the chance to dispute the charges that he cannot be trusted. I can imagine that So Cal Republicans are suspicious of so many NorCal candidates, as NorCal has a history of RINOism. This is not a good enough reason to cause mistrust among Republicans. If Steve Poisner refuses to comment on the article, then say so. If we use Saul Allinsky tactics in the Republican Party, we are just as bad as the Dems.
January 28th, 2010 at 12:00 am
The larger point should be that no one should be trusted, in light of the whole Arnold fiasco. These rich folks will spend their own money in a narcissistic pursuit of power for themselves, either because they are deluded enough to believe that they are what is needed to fix what so many before them could not, or they just think it would be a cool addition to the CV/Resume. You don’t see them supporting worthy causes like the part-time legislature which might do some actual immediate good.