Thanks for the post and ping, folks !
Great read, fyi ...Ray Haynes Endorses the Recall
Excerpt:
Which brings me to Schwarzenegger. I did not need to get involved in this race, and the easiest, and most political, thing for me to do would be to endorse Tom. Everyone would have expected it, and I would get no heat for the decision. But I believe the essence of leadership is letting your friends know when they are doing something wrong. It is easy to tell folks who have never supported you that they are wrong, there is no political cost to that. Looking your supporters that they are wrong is hard, because no one likes to hear that. There is a significant political cost that attaches to that. If I had said or done nothing, or endorsed Tom, I could have skated through this entire event without cost to me. But, if Cruz wins because Tom split the vote, the cost to the conservative movement in California will be immeasurable. We started the recall, we need to finish it with a victory. If we lose now, and there is a better than average chance we will if things stay the same, we will rightly bear the criticism that we handed this state over to the Democrats for the next 7 years. Our shortsightedness could cost us the entire war in this state. That is a risk I will not take. I have worked too hard, fought too much for the things we believe in to sacrifice them for my political career, for someone else's ego, or for the shortsightedness of those who are my allies. If I believe we are doing wrong, I am going to do what is right first, and let the politics fall as they may. If that means I must bear the criticism of my friends, then so be it. I know if Cruz wins, conservatism is California will be discredited for a long time.
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