Thread: CA: Concerns over Whitman rein in GOP fervor

Prediction: Her appearance will be brief.
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Concerns over Whitman rein in GOP fervor
California Republicans have high hopes for November, but the gubernatorial candidate's shifting tone on illegal immigration will likely raise tension at their convention.
By Seema Mehta and Michael J. Mishak, Los Angeles Times

9:09 PM PDT, August 19, 2010

As California Republicans gather in San Diego on Friday, enthusiasm about their ticket's competitiveness in this left-leaning state is being tempered by concerns about gubernatorial nominee Meg Whitman.

The former EBay chief faces an awkward homecoming at the party's convention because of her shifting tone on illegal immigration and climate change since winning the GOP primary in June.

"Conservatives and Republicans, we can eat a little bit of dirt on our food. It doesn't have to be a perfect meal, but we have to know what we're eating," said Mike Spence, a leading conservative voice in the party. "Even if someone takes a position that's different than the conservatives', to be able to articulate it and stick with it you still get points…. Being all over the place doesn't get you leadership points."

The tension is likely to be on display this weekend: As moderate party leaders launch online efforts to reach out to minority voters, conservatives are trying to force a floor vote to support Arizona's controversial crackdown on illegal immigration. Whitman, who some party activists say is trying to block such a vote, will leave before the fight occurs.

Whitman said concerns about a split are nonsense.

"We won the Republican primary by 38 points. It was a decisive victory," she said. "Certainly, there are some people who disagree with me on some issues, but I don't worry too much about the Republican Party splintering."

The 1,000 or so attendees who are descending on the city's Gaslamp Quarter have reason to be energized. Despite California's blue tilt, Whitman and U.S. Senate candidate Carly Fiorina are in dead-heat races against Democrats Jerry Brown and Sen. Barbara Boxer, respectively. Their viability is invigorating the party faithful not only because of the possibility of election day wins, but because of the symbolism of victories over big-name Democrats whom Republicans view as emblematic of big-government liberalism.

"There will be lot of energy and momentum this weekend about the idea of not only winning the governor's race, but actually having a Republican U.S. senator for the first time since 1992," said Adam Mendelsohn, a Republican strategist.

Voter sentiment, from outrage over government spending to pessimism about President Obama's efforts to restart the economy, is aligning with the party's core message, he said. "There's genuine, grass-roots excitement that the issues are on our side, and it's been a long time since Republicans in California have felt like they had the upper hand on the issues."

Tony Quinn, co-editor of the California Target Book, which tracks state political races, agreed, citing GOP Assemblyman Sam Blakeslee's victory this week in a state Senate district that Obama won by 20 points in 2008.

"The story of 2010 is not a Republican resurgence but a Democratic collapse," he said. "This political climate has been handed to them by the Democrats. Republicans don't have to do much but talk about jobs between now and November."

But a faction at the convention will be talking about immigration, piqued by Whitman's tonal shift since winning the Republican primary over state Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner.

Back then, she said she would be "tough as nails," and bolstered her credentials by trotting out campaign chairman and former Gov. Pete Wilson, who was the face of Proposition 187, the 1994 effort to deny taxpayer-funded services to illegal immigrants.

After winning the primary, Whitman published articles in Spanish-language newspapers that said she and Brown have similar views on illegal immigration and erected billboards in Latino communities stating her opposition to Proposition 187 and the Arizona law.

"I wish she would keep her promises that she made in the primary," said Celeste H. Greig, president of the California Republican Assembly, a conservative faction that endorsed Whitman's and Fiorina's rivals in the primary campaign.

Conservatives are also concerned that Whitman has said she would probably vote against Proposition 23, which would create a moratorium on the state's landmark climate-change law.

Fiorina, in contrast, is being embraced by conservatives who viewed her suspiciously in the primary contest.

"Carly's consistent," Greig said.

The California Republican Assembly plans to introduce a resolution supporting the Arizona law. Whitman spokesman Darrel Ng declined to comment on whether her campaign was trying to block a vote on the issue.

"The campaign is working to make sure the party is focused on electing Republicans in November," Ng said.

Analysts said that although the immigration split may cause drama at the convention, it won't matter on election day when the only other option is Brown.

"They may be a bit miffed by her, but they're certainly not going to vote the other way," said Larry Gerston, a political science professor at San Jose State.

www.latimes.com

Brown would not be any worse than Whitman, especially since Democrats control the legislature she will not be able to get any of her changes passed. Also she might arm twist some Republicans in the assembly who have veto power over the state budget to agree to tax increases, with Brown those same Republicans would stand firm.

That's why I am voting Chelene Nightengale for Governor.

Anyone voting for Whitman is a fool. She was not concerned about illegal immigration until she saw that Poizner was gaining on her fast and would surely pass her for the nomination because he was against illegal immigration, irregardless of the fortune she was spending to win. Then she hopped on the band wagon and rode it to the end. I was so disappointed that she won. I wondered who believed all the crap she said. And to top it off, she was against Arizona's new law. People must not have been paying attention. I feel cheated as a Republican for having to accept her as my candidate for governor. I will NOT. I would rather vote for Brown than her. I think that shes' in it for the money and nothing else. She probably plans to score big bucks as governor. I'm sure I'm not alone in my thinking.

Whitman will use GOP convention to focus on jobs
By JULIET WILLIAMS Associated Press Writer
Posted: 08/20/2010 04:46:54 PM PDT
Updated: 08/20/2010 08:16:56 PM PDT


SAN DIEGO—Republican gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman on Friday emphasized economic issues during a visit to a San Diego manufacturer, trying to stay on her main campaign message as she faced dissent from some die-hard conservatives at this weekend's meeting of the California GOP.
She said cutting regulations and taxes on businesses will help create 2 million private-sector jobs by 2015. She told reporters later that she wants to be held accountable to that pledge if she is elected in November.

Whitman also gave a preview of her scheduled Friday night address to the state party. She attacked the record of her Democratic opponent, Attorney General Jerry Brown, on jobs and unemployment when he was governor from 1975 to 1983.

"Unemployment nearly doubled under his watch to what was then a record 11 percent. He took a $6 billion surplus and turned it into a $1 billion budget deficit. Government spending increased 120 percent under his watch, and we became rated among the very worst states to do business in," she told the crowd gathered in a warehouse at Solar Gard, a San Diego manufacturer of tinted films to control sunlight on windows.

When Brown was first elected, the state unemployment rate was 9.4 percent. It dipped to a low of 6.1 percent in December 1979, before climbing to 11.1 when Brown left office in January 1983. What Whitman neglected to point out was that California and the rest of the country were being hit hard by a recession at the time.

Whitman later defended her attacks on Brown.

"I don't think it's disingenuous, because your job as the governor is to outperform the other states," she told reporters.

Brown campaign spokesman Sterling Clifford responded by saying 1.9 million jobs were created during Brown's tenure, a record he says exceeds that of all subsequent governors.

The most notable spike in spending while Brown was governor came in response to voter passage in 1978 of Proposition 13, which rolled back and capped property taxes. Brown and the Legislature spent the state's surplus to bail out local governments and schools by $4.2 billion, offsetting the effects of the lowered property tax revenue. At the time, the move was praised by tax-cut crusader Howard Jarvis and supported by Republicans in the Legislature.

Despite a spending spree by Whitman that has included $104 million of her own money on a constant stream of radio and television ads, polls have shown her virtually tied with Brown all summer.

The party's nominee for U.S. Senate, former Hewlett-Packard chief executive Carly Fiorina, is also tied in polls with Sen. Barbara Boxer. Fiorina, who has generally adopted more conservative positions than Whitman, will address the delegates Saturday.

Whitman also sought Friday to downplay divisions within the Republican Party over her stance on immigration. The former eBay chief executive has said she wants to secure the border, go after employers that hire illegal workers and eliminate so-called sanctuary cities.

Some delegates at this weekend's fall convention are pushing the party to adopt a resolution supporting Arizona's controversial immigration law, which is in legal limbo after a federal judge blocked implementation of numerous provisions.

The law requires police to check a person's immigration status while enforcing other laws if there is a reasonable suspicion they are in the U.S. illegally, requires immigrants to carry their papers and bans immigrants from soliciting employment in public places.

Whitman has said she would not support a similar law in California, although she supports Arizona's right to enact it.

The Republican nominee announced her opposition to the law before the June GOP primary, but has taken a softer approach on many immigration issues since then as she aggressively courts Latino voters with a Spanish-language outreach campaign.

Former party chairman Michael Schroeder said Republican voters loved Whitman in the primary, when she pledged in campaign ads to be "tough as nails on immigration." Now they're not so sure, he said.

"Now she's campaigning against the Arizona law and her position, she says, is not really much different than Jerry Brown's. She's essentially pro-amnesty," he said.

She also faces criticism from the conservative wing of the party over her failure to support Proposition 23, a November ballot measure that would indefinitely suspend California's landmark global warming law. Whitman reiterated Friday that she prefers suspending the law for one year instead, but said she is doing some more research before taking a definitive position on the measure.

The dispute between Whitman and the party faithful is reminiscent of their fractious relationship with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, a Republican who declared himself to be a "post-partisan" and has repeatedly ignited the ire of conservatives for taking moderate positions on a host of issues. He is skipping this weekend's convention, the last the GOP will hold before he is termed out in January.

http://www.mercurynews.com/news/ci_15843721

Whitman is basically an irrational oligarch. She thinks she can buy anything. Her scheme might just work. Obviously Brown is one of the worst politicians this country has ever produced and there is no way I would vote for him. But I won't vote for Whitman. She's for amnesty and that is unacceptable under any circumstances.

Pick your poison... Whitman or brown, Caleeeeeeeeeefornia loses no matter who wins.. Mexifornia Is now Inevitable... get out while you still can....