This just in…

Dear Friend,

Like many other supporters of Steve Poizner, you have probably been contacted recently by operatives for the Meg Whitman for Governor Campaign.  These operatives have one simple message: Steve Poizner cannot win, you need to join the Whitman team, and we will remember you if you fail to join us.

In fact, one Whitman operative recently threatened a $40 million negative attack campaign against Steve Poizner if he did not withdraw from the race.  The operative also then put out a statement asserting that a hard-fought Republican primary election would hand the general election to the Democrats.

Of course, this assertion is clearly refuted by historical fact.  In the last gubernatorial election without an incumbent (1998), our nominee, Dan Lungren, had no primary opposition and the Democrats had a very tough, nasty one. Dan Lungren did not have the chance to battle-test his team in a primary.  Gray Davis did, and that, in part, led to a 20-point margin of victory for the battle-tested Gray Davis.

Which of course begs the question, why is the Whitman campaign so afraid of running in a primary against Steve Poizner?  And if the Whitman team is so confident of winning the primary, why all the effort to get Steve to drop out or get his supporters to switch sides?

I think it is because they know what I know.  Republican voters want a lifelong Republican, not a recent convert, to serve as our party’s standard bearer.  They want someone who doesn’t just talk about cutting government spending, but someone who has a proven track record of doing it.

They don’t want our nominee for Governor to be someone who, as recently as 2004, endorsed and campaigned for Barbara Boxer,  who described herself as a “huge fan” of Van Jones, and who donated $300,000 dollars to protect the Delta Smelt.

I have met Meg Whitman and I admire and respect many of her accomplishments.  But on issue after issue that matters to Republican voters, she has been either AWOL or actually on the other side of our efforts.  That is the reason why Meg Whitman and her team have resisted almost every invitation to debate the issues with Steve Poizner.

The purpose of a primary election is for each side to choose its team for the playoffs.  I understand that Meg’s team wants to avoid the primary and go right to the playoffs, but I believe that the people of our state deserve the opportunity to have the healthy competition that is so necessary to a vibrant democracy. 

That is why I have always been supportive of having candidates debate at our state party conventions and at other venues around the state.  Voters deserve a real choice and when the campaign begins, these choices will become very clear.

Meg Whitman may not think it’s in our party’s best interest to engage in a competitive primary, but we certainly can’t afford to put an untested candidate like Meg Whitman against Jerry Brown in 2010.

I believe that Steve Poizner will be our nominee, in part because Steve Poizner is not afraid of competition.  He has more than enough resources to broadly and effectively communicate his message to Republican primary voters. 

So the next time you hear the Whitman campaign assert that a Republican primary will only help Jerry Brown, recognize the attempts for what they are — a desire to win for free what others like Ronald Reagan and George Deukmejian have had to compete hard to earn.

Remember that history has proven that primary competition is not only good for our party; but it will help us in November as well. 


Sincerely,

Jim Brulte
Campaign Chairman
Steve Poizner for Governor

This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 17th, 2010 at 12:00 am and is filed under Blog Posts.