Thread: Poizner, DeVore get conservative group’s nod, CA.

Poizner, DeVore get conservative group’s nod

March 7th, 2010, 6:26 pm
Martin Wisckol, Politics reporter

Gubernatorial candidate Steve Poizner and U.S. Senate candidate Chuck DeVore are trailing significantly in their bids for the respective Republican nominations, but they got a bit of a boost today when they won the endorsements of the California Republican Assembly at the group’s Buena Park convention.

My colleague Niyaz Pirani yesterday talked to folks at the conservative grassroots group’s 75th Anniversary confab, and some said they needed to consider viability as well as positions in making its endorsements. But idealism seemed to carry the day. Poizner (11 percent) trails Meg Whitman (41 percent) in the GOP gubernatorial race, and DeVore (8 percent) trails Tom Campbell (27 percent) and Carly Fiorina (16 percent), according to a January poll by the Public Policy Institute of California.

DeVore, an Irvine Assemblyman, was one of three statewide candidates to get the CRA’s nod, with Chapman Law School prof John Eastman chosen for attorney general and Laguna Niguel state Sen. Mimi Walters picked for treasurer.

Thanks to Red County for posting the tallies. Other endorsement winners: Board of Equalization, District 3 – Michelle Steel; Lieutenant Governor – Sam Aanestad; Secretary of State – Damon Dunn; Controller – Tony Strickland.

http://totalbuzz.freedomblogging.com/20 ... nod/31331/

I watched an interview with Chuck DeVore. He gave an impressive talk, and I really liked what he said. I hope that he is gaining support in California.

Psalm 91

Originally Posted by GeorgiaPeach

I watched an interview with Chuck DeVore. He gave an impressive talk, and I really liked what he said. I hope that he is gaining support in California.

Psalm 91

He has some very strongly worded anti-illegal alien ads on TV.
Other than that I don't now much about him.

Gubernatorial hopeful Poizner, accused of flip-flopping, steers hard to the right

By Ken McLaughlin
kmclaughlin@mercurynews.com
Posted: 03/07/2010 05:28:26 PM PST
Updated: 03/07/2010 07:18:59 PM PST

When Republican Steve Poizner ran against Ira Ruskin in a heavily Democratic state Assembly district in 2004, Poizner assured voters he was against the war in Iraq, was 100 percent pro-choice and would stand up to "Republican Party bosses.'' But six years after narrowly losing that Peninsula race to the liberal Ruskin, Poizner — who now wants to be governor — is painting himself as the only "true conservative'' in the GOP primary.

As California Republicans head to Santa Clara this week for their spring convention, Poizner's new battle plan puts him in a unique position among the three gubernatorial contenders because both his GOP rival, Meg Whitman, and Democrat Jerry Brown have veered toward the political center. In making his strategy clear this past week, Poizner said he'll do everything possible to prevent the "coronation'' of the "extreme liberal'' Whitman, the former eBay chief.

A day after formally declaring his candidacy, Poizner, the state's insurance commissioner, unleashed his first TV spots. He promised to save the state billions by cutting off benefits to "illegal aliens'' and to require police to report them when they're arrested for other crimes.

Many hard-core conservatives are chomping on the red meat Poizner has tossed their way. On Friday, Poizner picked up the endorsement of U.S Rep. Tom McClintock, R-Rocklin, a conservative standard-bearer. And on Sunday he won the coveted endorsement of the California Republican

Assembly, the 75-year-old grass-roots organization that Ronald Reagan once called the "conscience of the Republican Party.''

Still, other California conservatives remain suspicious that the previously self-styled "moderate'' hasn't really changed his political stripes.

Political analysts say whether Poizner's battle plan succeeds depends on convincing Republican primary voters, who tend to lean way right, that his conservatism is heartfelt — and not just political opportunism.

"If Poizner thinks that conservatives always embrace recent converts, he should have a word with President Romney,'' said John Pitney, a government and politics professor at Claremont McKenna College. He was referring to Mitt Romney's flip-flops on everything from abortion to gun control to gays in the military after deciding to seek the 2008 GOP presidential nomination following his term as Massachusetts governor.

Poizner's political makeover hasn't been as dramatic. But to many who first met him in 2004 when he ran for the 21st Assembly seat, it has been just as startling.

Consider that in May 2004 Poizner told a Mercury News reporter: "The right wing of the Republican Party does not represent me.'' And during a Comcast debate five months later, he accused Ruskin and his consultants of trying "to confuse people'' and "make people believe that I'm not really a moderate Republican."

Alissa Shaw, director of Planned Parenthood Advocates Mar Monte, said the organization decided not to endorse either Ruskin or Poizner in 2004 because "we had the best of both worlds — two candidates who returned 100 percent pro-choice questionnaires.'' To get that high a rating, a candidate must support public funding of abortions, oppose parental consent laws and back a woman's right to choose the abortion method most likely to preserve her health, including so-called partial-birth abortion.

Today, Poizner is attacking Whitman for not wanting to overturn a 1981 state Supreme Court decision requiring public funding of abortions. And he now opposes partial-birth abortion and would support a law requiring minors to get their parents' permission to end a pregnancy.

Six years ago, Poizner sought the backing of BAYMEC, a Santa Clara County political organization that advocates for gay rights, telling the group he opposed the U.S. Defense of Marriage Act. The 1996 law allows states to deny recognition of same-sex marriages performed in another state.

BAYMEC founder Wiggsy Sivertsen says the group ultimately backed Ruskin because, unlike Poizner, the Democrat unequivocally supported legalizing gay marriage in California. But she remembers how members were thrilled to see a Republican who "seemed so liberal on many social issues.'' Poizner even donated $1,250 to BAYMEC to buy a table at its annual dinner in 2004. So she was disappointed to see Poizner, now aggressively wooing "traditional values'' voters, recently come out against California recognizing same-sex marriages performed in other states.

"To see him do this is very disturbing,'' Sivertsen said. "It implies that politics is about expediency and not about what's moral or what's right.''

Still, flip-flops aren't always political suicide.

Such makeovers "happen with candidates in both parties,'' said Dan Schnur, director of the Jesse M. Unruh Institute of Politics at the University of Southern California. "The key for a candidate is if he can explain credibly why he has changed his mind.''

In an interview with the Mercury News last week, Poizner was asked to do just that.

The former Silicon Valley entrepreneur traced some of his newfound positions to his arrival in the state capital after being elected insurance commissioner in 2006.

"My time in Sacramento has really helped crystallize my view about how broken the state of California is, about how the liberal agenda has gone to the extreme,'' he said. "And that's bankrupted the state.''

Poizner, who grew up in Texas, says he was always "a passionate believer in free markets and individual liberty ever since I was in high school.'' Surrounded by Democratic relatives, he said, he often felt like "the Alex P. Keaton of my family,'' referring to the young Republican with liberal parents in the old TV series "Family Ties.''

On the abortion issue, Poizner said that he's still pro-choice. But as he's studied the issue more, he said, he's become convinced that using public funds to subsidize abortions leads to more of them. "I think we should drive the number of abortions down, as close to zero as possible,'' he said.

Poizner said he's always been for gay civil unions but against same-sex marriage. "I opposed gay marriage then,'' he said. "I oppose gay marriage now.''

Contact Ken McLaughlin at kmclaughlin@mercurynews.com or (408) 920-5552.

http://www.mercurynews.com/top-stories/ci_14515326

I did not know about the ads JohnDoe2. Thank you for that information. I will try to find them. I was briefly familiar with Mr. DeVore through a passionate supporter of his in California. When I saw the interview on Fox News, and listened to his words, and to his constant reference to the Constitution, I thought that he deserves consideration to represent a refreshing change.

Psalm 91

Originally Posted by JohnDoe2

Originally Posted by GeorgiaPeach

I watched an interview with Chuck DeVore. He gave an impressive talk, and I really liked what he said. I hope that he is gaining support in California.

Psalm 91

He has some very strongly worded anti-illegal alien ads on TV.
Other than that I don't now much about him.

I have not seen anything on DeVore, but Poizner also has some anti illegal ads also. I'm not sure what to think of Poizner yet. I DO know that I don't want to have to look at that RINO Meg Whitman for the next four years.

If someone has the links to the ads for both candidates, please post them for us. I will look for them too.

Thank you.

I have not heard of Poizner.

Psalm 91

My mistake. You were talking about DeVore and I was talking about Poizner having anti-illegal alien ads. Oooops.

Calif. GOP candidate Poizner launches TV ads

The Associated Press
Posted: 03/02/2010 02:10:04 PM PST
Updated: 03/02/2010 02:10:04 PM PST

SACRAMENTO, Calif.—State Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner has started his first statewide television ad, portraying himself as the only conservative in the governor's race.

Poizner's commercial debuted Tuesday, the same day Attorney General Jerry Brown officially announced his candidacy for the Democratic nomination.

The 30-second spot calls his rival for the Republican nomination, Meg Whitman, a liberal who has attacked Poizner's conservative tax-cutting proposals.

Whitman has been advertising on the radio for months and began airing TV ads in February.

Poizner's campaign released its ad in conjunction with an online spot that will be part of an Internet campaign.

http://www.mercurynews.com/news/ci_1449 ... ck_check=1
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I heard that Whitman has put up $40 million of her own money for the campaign.

That is okay. It would be good to see any candidate ads against illegal immigration.

Psalm 91