Good question - what a mess.
Does Poizner want me to pay for government funded abortions? I despise Whitman for that stance.
I don’t know anything really about either Whitman or Poizner, but did a quick search, and here is what I found about Poizner:
“He is a pro-choice Republican who has been able to reach out to the party’s conservative base.
GOP strategist Allan Hoffenblum believes that Poizner lost the party’s centrist graybeards by moving too far to the right in his bid for the top. When Poizner ran for state Assembly in 2004 and lost, he styled himself as “a frustrated moderate Republican,” who would not say if he voted for George W. Bush in 2000. In his run for governor, however, Poizner courted the sort of Republicans who grouse that Bush wasn’t conservative enough.
Poizner’s transition to the gung-ho side of the GOP, Hoffenblum noted, makes insiders wonder, “Is he another Mitt Romney?”
http://articles.sfgate.com/2009-10-25/opinion/17184957_1_candidate-governor-bid
From: http://www.calcatholic.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?id=54b968f9-d257-4bd1-a332-eed93ae25e24
HH: “Now Steve Poizner, what about abortion? Are you a pro-choice guy?”
SP: “I am a pro-choice guy in one sense. I don’t believe that California is going to outlaw abortions anytime soon. Now I’m against abortions, and I want to work with people on all sides of this issue to drive the number of abortions down to zero. I do oppose late-term abortions completely. I have supported and continue to support parental notification. Those are just common sense issues here. But this state’s not ready to outlaw them tomorrow. Instead, we need much more aggressive education programs to get people to understand that abortions really are a bad thing.”
-o-
From “Really Right,” a blog of Townhall.com, hosted by William on Friday, May 29, 2009:
“I finally was able to hear Steve Poizner speak at our much delayed Reagan-Lincoln Dinner here in Sacramento County. I was most impressed by his presentation and understanding that “it’s the spending stupid” to lift a phrase from another political campaign.
“He fielded a number of questions on a variety of issues. The person next to me was anxious to ask Poizner about his position on abortion—a subject that many folks are passionate about. I suggested instead of asking him which label—prolife or prochoice—he wished to apply to himself that this person ask him specifics about issues that Poizner would likely face as governor. I suggested that he ask about taxpayer funding of abortion and conscientious objections by pharmacists and other healthcare providers to being forced to provide “morning after” pills and other such methods of abortion.
“The person seated at my table got up after Poizner had completed his Q & A period and went looking for him. This person had stated previously that he would only vote for prolife candidates. He must have been successful with what he was told by Poizner because when he returned to the table, he was filling out an endorsement card.”