Lurching too far right / GOP candidates putting selves in political corner

By Union-Tribune Editorial Board,
Friday, April 23, 2010 at 12:05 a.m.

Republican gubernatorial candidates Steve Poizner and Meg Whitman haven’t explained how they would solve the state’s economic crisis, bring jobs back, improve public schools, preserve essential services in the face of budget cuts and otherwise lead a troubled state to brighter days.

However, through their spirited but not always honest attacks on one another, they have accomplished one thing: They’ve shown us how difficult it is for a Republican to run a successful statewide campaign in California. It requires the dexterity of an Olympic gymnast to be able to lurch, as gracefully as possible, to the far right in the primary, with the understanding that, if you secure the GOP nomination in June, you’ll have to sprint to the left – or, at least, the center – before the general election in November.

We’re currently in the lurching-right stage. Poizner has approved a TV ad insisting that Whitman is unacceptable because, after Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, voters “deserve a Republican.â€