“I know as a conservative here in California, I won’t be voting for either of them.”
Me either. Kashkari is one of the most cynical choices pushed on us by the GOP establishment. A Hindu social leftist and Goldman Sachs alum who ran the TARP program, ladling out a fortune in taxpayer cash to his former Wall Street associates.
I wouldn’t be at all surprised if the GOPe was grooming Kashkari to be their own Obama, a socially progressive offspring of the third world that they can run for President. The GOPe can be counted on to embrace the worst ideas of the Democrat left.
When Tea Party favorite Tim Donnelly was running against Kashkari in the primary GOPe mouthpieces Karl Rove, Hugh Hewitt and Michael Medved were denouncing Donnelly as being a threat to Republican chances nationwide. In contrast Kashkari is their idea of a great candidate. From wiki:
“For most of the race Kashkari trailed Donnelly in public opinion polls. Kashkari’s moderate views on social issues, involvement with TARP, and vote for Obama in 2008 were unpopular with many Republican voters, who were more enthusiastic about Donnelly. Other Republicans feared that if Donnelly advanced to the general election he would not only lose to Brown but also hurt other Republicans running for office because of his narrow appeal to white conservatives, staunch right-wing views”
“The perceived threat from Donnelly attracted endorsements for Kashkari from national Republicans including Romney, Jeb Bush, Condoleezza Rice, and Karl Rove, as well as California Republicans including Pete Wilson and Darrell Issa. These advantages allowed Kashkari not to campaign farther right than he wanted to.”
“On social issues, he has described himself as libertarian and “a different kind of Republican”, supporting abortion rights, marriage equality, and a path to legal status for illegal immigrants. He voted against California’s Proposition 8, which banned same-sex marriage in 2008”
“Kashkari cites Paulson, Mitch Daniels, and Jeb Bush as political mentors. He voted for Obama in the 2008 presidential election and Romney in the 2012 election.”