Posted on 02/09/2009 12:30:49 PM PST by calcowgirl
Former EBay Chief Executive Meg Whitman joined the race for governor of California this morning, setting off a battle between Silicon Valley moguls for the 2010 Republican nomination.
Whitman, 52, has never run for public office, but is banking that Californians will see her corporate background as just what the state needs to break its chronic cycle of fiscal disasters.
... Whitman's chief rival for the party nomination is state Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner, also a high-tech tycoon. Another Republican exploring a run is a former Silicon Valley congressman, Tom Campbell, now an economics professor at UC Berkeley.
With vast personal wealth, Whitman and Poizner can each spend tens of millions of dollars apiece on the race; Campbell faces a steep challenge in raising enough to be competitive.
... Whitman has offered no details on the agenda she would pursue as governor, and her campaign website, which debuted today, avoided specifics. But she has made clear that she will position herself -- like Poizner and Campbell -- as a fiscal conservative and social moderate who supports abortion rights.
... In her statement, Whitman announced she was forming an exploratory committee. But the effort is exploratory in name only: Whitman has hired a team of more than two dozen advisors, including several veterans of Schwarzenegger campaigns.
Whitman named former Gov. Pete Wilson as her campaign chairman. Her campaign co-chairs include Republican Reps. Kevin McCarthy of Bakersfield and Mary Bono Mack of Palm Springs.
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
Pete’s at it again.
All I can say is: RINO alert.
Do not be fooled by her founding/ownership of a successful company. She looks/sounds like a liberal in Republican’s clothing to me.
sigh
Only kind of Republican that can win in California. California is so badly off, even a RINO is an improvement of what they’ve been enduring for leadership.
She learned to lie real good at Ebay... so she’ll probably make a great politician....
Good point!
Only kind of Republican that can win in California.
California is so badly off, even a RINO is an improvement of what they’ve been enduring for leadership.
—
That’s the common theme of many it seems.
Conservative candidates can’t win.
No, not as long as moderates undercut them at every opportunity... and the media and left vilify them.
It’s an uphill battle for a conservative.. but look at what drove this state to the edge of the abyss.
It’s a bitch that voters can’t recognize that, eh?
Tell that to Ronald Reagan.
I believe that a Republican campaigning as a small government, anti-illegal candidate could win.
If that is the case, maybe they should just put the governorship itself up on eBay. The proceeds can go to the state treasury ...
Apparently politics is no longer about ideas and self-government.
The California voter today is a heckof a lot different from the voter in 1989. Aren’t we looking at a California diaspora that has spraed throughtout the west, looking for the samee utopian comforts but at a cheaper price, and to get away from the Mexicans?
That is why it is known as Thief-Bay. She will take the left lane and drive it in the left ditch.
Huh?
A RINO *is* what they have for leadership.
It would be best if the CA GOP just took a step back and allowed the DNC to own the implosion and collapse of the state completely.
I hear ya,, good luck getting away..
the population was probably 1/3 less of what it is today, now 38M or so, and then as it grew and the major departure started in 2000 and the dot com bust , and then the legislature want nuts under gubs in both parties, and now add in the mix, how many illegals have left and who is still legally immigrating here, a very significant portion of the populace is clueless and feel entitled to remain so and vote that way.. Hawaii and Alaska are at the top of my list from here when the bottom drops out.
Why would she bother to run as a Republican? If she wants to be in the center..left to us..she might as well run as a Rat.
Yeah... NY Liberals are just what Californians want. /s
Your mantra is almost a direct quote of George Christopher in 1965. I guess he was a tad-bit wrong about Reagan's prospects and the popularity of conservatism.
There are very few states that are actually solidly fiscally liberal--in most cases I think voters are open to anything if they can be convinced it will work. And fiscal conservatives may have an easier time articulating a clear, convincing message than moderates who don't really stand for anything.
Social issues, of course, are different. If the voters of a state are socially and culturally liberal, no amount of convincing will make them change their mind. At best a social conservative can hope that economic factors outweigh social ones for voters, but he'll face an uphill battle.
No, they really aren't.
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.