Steve Poizner throws support behind GOP ticket, Whitman

Thirteen weeks after losing his bid for the party nomination in a bruising primary battle, Steve Poizner has for the first time voiced support of former rival Meg Whitman's gubernatorial bid.

Poizner, the state insurance commissioner, issued a statement through the California Republican Party endorsing all the GOP candidates for statewide office, saying the ticket "offers a clear contrast to candidates nominated by the Democratic Party."

But the 224-word statement reads far from a wholehearted endorsement of his primary foe.

Poizner only mentions Whitman once by name and does not single out the gubernatorial hopeful's accomplishments or credentials, instead saying the ticket is "led by successful business women who know that if there is to be a viable public sector, there must be a vibrant private sector."

Poizner has mostly sat on the sidelines of the statewide campaign since losing to Whitman in the primary. He did not attend last month's California Republican Party convention in San Diego and had not endorsed his former rival.

Poizner isn’t a RINO, at least not is California terms - but he is a sore loser. He also is not too smart politically. By keeping up this petulant act, he has forfeited any chance at running for statewide office in California again. Had he bowed out gracefully when it became apparent he had no chance, or even jumped on the bandwagon after the primary, he might have been the front-runner to challenge Di-Fi in 2012. Now he will be lucky to win a race for dog-catcher.

Yeah — let’s just coronate our candidates instead of letting the people decide in a primary election.

Why have primaries, at all?

The arrogant SOBs that run the state party can recruit and cram down our throats their preferred puppet without any opposition.

Yeah — that’s the ticket.

“Yeah — let’s just coronate our candidates instead of letting the people decide in a primary election.

Why have primaries, at all?

The arrogant SOBs that run the state party can recruit and cram down our throats their preferred puppet without any opposition.

Yeah — that’s the ticket.”

I had no problem with Steve running in the primary, although he really damaged himself and the party by tearing into Meg so hard after it became obvious he didn’t stand a chance. But the real issue was his refusal to conced gracefully and support the party candidate after the primary. That smacks of sour grapes, and has really ruined his chances for any support for a future campaign of his own.

Steve could have been a hero to the party by stepping aside once it became clear that he had no chance. That would have saved money for the general, allowed Meg to focus on Moonbeam, and would have prevented a lot of negative ads against Meg from Steve that the Dems will now use. Had he done so, he would have had the full support of the party to run against Di-Fi. Not anymore.

Ummm... did you miss Poizner’s concession speech the day after the election, offering his support to Whitman?
http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/video?id=7486758

As to being hard on Whitman, it was a PRIMARY! I understand that Meg’s controllers wanted to clear the field so she could run unopposed, but all the whining about actually having to run a campaign makes her look silly. The only “sour grapes” I’ve seen are comments like yours, writing someone off because they had the audacity to actually enter a race and not back out because it was inconvenient for the ordained one. You and the party hacks may write him off for his actions but joe-public doesn’t think that way. Your dog-catcher comment implies an obligation for everyone to cowtow to “the Party” which is un-American, IMO.

The VOTERS have a right to know what they are getting. That is what primaries are for. Let us see the good, the bad, and the ugly. If you are a campaign strategist, I suppose wanting to silence the opposition is status quo. But for the rest of the world, we WANT to hear it all. We want them to point out the differences between them, to flush out their weaknesses, etc.

As to saving Meg money, don’t even go there. The amount of dollars she has poured into this election is OBSCENE. I don’t know of a single person who doesn’t believe that she has BOUGHT this election.

For the record, I have been one of Poizner’s strongest critics over the years. When it came to the primary, I couldn’t stand either candidate.

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.