Posted on 03/19/2010 9:14:39 AM PDT by NormsRevenge
LAFAYETTE — Republican gubernatorial candidate and California Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner may be down 49 points in the latest poll, but he says he is far from out of the race.
At a meeting of the Commonwealth Club on Thursday, Poizner attributed rival Meg Whitman's massive lead to her multimillion-dollar advertising blitz.
"People don't know me from Adam, which is frustrating because I am the insurance commissioner," joked Poizner, who has raised $20 million versus Whitman's personal contribution of $40 million and promises to spend as much as $150 million. "... Look, we are just starting. We still have three months. It's not like people know who I am yet."
But it was hard not to compare his sparsely attended appearance at the club's lecture series with Whitman's last month, which drew a sellout crowd, a horde of media, protesters on the sidewalk and a union-funded airplane towing an anti-Whitman banner.
Political observers have questioned whether Poizner can close such a large gap. Even Whitman has moved on from Poizner, focusing her campaign in recent days on the general election and presumptive Democratic nominee Attorney General Jerry Brown.
For Poizner's part, the 53-year-old former high-tech entrepreneur from Silicon Valley did not sound like a desperate man who trails in the polls.
He was relaxed, self-deprecating, funny and passionate about his bid for the state's most prominent office.
Poizner stressed his dual sets of experiences, first as the founder of two startup companies including SnapTrack, which designed the global positioning satellite chip technology now found in tens of millions of cell phones.
Second, he outlined how he conducted a top-to-bottom review of the state's insurance division, which employs more than 1,000 people, and downsized his budget by 15 percent.
"As governor, I will do the same with all state government," ..
(Excerpt) Read more at insidebayarea.com ...
Don't lose your sense of humor..
only down by 49 points..
just a flesh wound
a true 49er.
Whitman is a terrible candidate.
Repubs are handing this one to Moonbeam.
Good ol’ Jerry,, and I mean getitng up there, 72??
Seems like he’s doing everything he can to not win.. no sane person could want to be at the helm when this ship goes under .. well,, Gavin Newsom wanted it but only after DiFi said no and Jerry hemmed and hawed ..
Meg faces a more uphill battle than aRnie did,, and now she would face cleaning up a bigger mess, one she helped make.. poetic justice in a way..
If they vote for Whitman; they are voting for another communist and crook.
Since Jerry is 72, who the next Lt. Gov is might just be a big deal if Moonbeam manages to get himself elected.
The party machine is going to install Moonbeam redux. He can work the same magic on the state that has made Oakland such a happy & prosperous city.
How we got saddled with Whitman is beyond me. She’s downright looney.
And Carly-no-offshore-drilling (unless it’s China, of course) off the CA coast, Firorina for senate?
Good grief. How many millions of people do we have in CA? And these 2 are the best we can do?
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