Poizner’s Lazarus-like revivification

I received this interesting, and enlightening article about the California GOP gubernatorial primary campaign. You may find it of interest if you are a California Republican voter who has not yet made a decision on whom to support.

Ideas still have consequences

Poizner’s Lazarus-like revivification

Tom McClintock’s stature and standing with California Republicans, wise use of campaign funds, and the candidate's own qualities have transformed the GOP Primary political landscape.

by William E. Saracino

Posted: May 10, 2010 3:33 AM
Originally published May 10, 2010
William E. Saracino is a member of California Political Review’s Editorial Board.

I have been a supporter of Steve Poizner’s campaign for Governor from its inception. To say that the course of the campaign has provided some anxious moments is an understatement. Seeing your candidate 48 percent behind the opposition in polls and written off for dead – as Poizner was mere weeks ago - is a thrill I wouldn’t mind missing in the future.

In the words of the classic Dinah Washington song, what a difference a day makes. The dynamics of the GOP gubernatorial primary are changing rapidly. Poizner’s deficit to Meg Whitman last week was just 10 percent and shrinking fast. Outside of the Bay Area (where he has just begun to run advertising) Poizner was within 5 percent of Meg.

Poizner’s Lazarus-like revivification can be traced to three factors: 1) the candidate himself; 2) the campaign’s refusal to be lured into an early spending binge; and 3) Congressman Tom McClintock’s stature and standing with California Republicans.

Steve Poizner has been the energizer bunny of the California GOP since he was elected Insurance Commissioner in 2006. He took his responsibility as a statewide Republican elected official seriously, traveling ceaselessly around the state to appear at GOP clubs and help other GOP candidates. I have seen him in front of large crowds and those more appropriate for a city council candidate. His upbeat demeanor never changes, nor – and this is important - does his articulate espousal of basic conservative principals.

Poizner’s has been a campaign about ideas – sound, conservative Republican ideas. This combination of his energetic toiling in the GOP vineyards and his preaching traditional Republican common sense earned him enormous goodwill among the rank and file, those most certain to vote in a primary election.

Meg Whitman’s campaign, realizing that they had more money at their disposal than the entire European Union, decided to spend truly extravagant amounts - over $50 million of her own money so far – very early in the primary season. Knowing that this would result in Whitman having impressive leads in early surveys which largely measure name-identification, they hoped to either drive Poizner out of the race or panic his campaign into spending their own limited (compared to the Whitman bottomless checkbook) resources too early to be effective.

The Poizner folks may have been born at night, but they weren’t born last night. They wisely refused the come-on, saving their advertising dollars until closer to the election when voters would be paying attention. That would be now, and the Poizner surge in the polls validates the wisdom of that decision.

That surge also validates the place Congressman Tom McClintock holds as the most trusted, believable voice in the California Republican Party and the wisdom of the Poizner campaign featuring McClintock in its advertising.

Anyone familiar with McClintock’s career knows he has earned that trust the hard way – by telling the unvarnished, sometimes very unvarnished, truth. As with his heroes Winston Churchill, Barry Goldwater and Ronald Reagan, McClintock believes that while telling voters the truth will hopefully lead to electoral success, telling the truth always trumps temporizing in the pursuit of such success.

Churchill and Reagan eventually saw their time come. Barry Goldwater saw his validation in the success of Ronald Reagan, elected twice in landslides on Goldwater’s platform. Tom McClintock is not running for Governor, but Steve Poizner’s jump in the polls, fueled by McClintock’s appearance in TV and radio ads, is powerful testimony that, if not for McClintock himself, the time for his - and Poizner’s - ideas has indeed arrived.

McClintock and his message that Steve Poizner is the real conservative and workhorse Republican in the race has been ubiquitous the last few weeks, the time frame Poizner has eliminated most of the 48 percent poll deficit to Meg. McClintock’s 30+ years of earning credibility in the Party has come up triple 7’s for Poizner - political pros unassociated with either campaign tell me they expect Poizner to actually be in the lead by the time you read this. Ideas actually matter – who knew?

Poizner and McClintock knew. They have once again raised Ronald Reagan’s banner of “bright, bold colors”, and the electorate is responding. It can lead Poizner to victory in June, and if he stays the course through the fall campaign against the ultimate retread Jerry Brown, can lead a broad Republican resurgence in November. Ideas still have consequences. Anyone happy with that situation owes a debt of thanks to Steve Poizner and Tom McClintock.