Source Document

I was forwarded a document for a recent California Federation of Republican Women's Southern Division meeting.

It is apparent that Steve Poizner and Meg Whitman are on completely different tracks.

In the wake of the discovery that Whitman is an elitist NIMBY and a fringe-left environmentalist (evidenced by her donations to protect the delta smelt)... we have further evidence that her campaign is attempting to veer to the left of Arnold.

Take a look at these quotes from their bios and decide for yourself:

"On September 15,2008 Poizner announced his candidacy for Governor of California. Poizner's campaign is based on strong in-state grassroots suppoer. The election will take place November of 2010. Poizner has worked for government reform, education reform, women's rights, and restoring California's position as a family-friendly, business friendly state."

and Whitman:

"On February 9,2009 Whitman announced her candidacy for Governor of California. Senator John McCain endorsed Meg Whitman for Governor of California. The election will take place November of 2010. Whitman supports Abortion Rights, same-sex civil unions and adoption rights for same-sex couples, but not same-sex marriage. Her views on same sex rights have created controversy related to her political aspirations."

Is it possible that Whitman thinks Republican women are obsessed with Abortion rights? Or is it quite simply that she is reaching out to Maria Schriver Republicans?

Poizner - Government Reform, Education Reform...

Whitman - Abortion Rights, Same Sex (insert issue here)... (Omitted: anti-gun, open borders, taxing the rich, donations to left-wing enviros, her huge fan list, etc etc etc)

I do believe that Republicans for Boxer (Clinton, Kerry, Gore, Obama) will enthusiastically endorse Whitman.

City eyes state lawsuit to save money - Placer Herald
A new lawsuit is giving the city of Rocklin more confidence that it will be able to hold on to redevelopment money the state planned to raid with this summer’s budget compromise.

Police ring in new automated phone system - Placer Herald
Some Rocklin residents have reservations about the Rocklin Police Department’s decision to route non-emergency calls through an automated attendant.

Tahoe City business owners, residents weigh in on future of Station 51 - Truckee Sierra Sun
Whatever becomes of the location when the North Tahoe Fire Protection District moves to its newly proposed home on Fairway Drive in Fall 2011, it will have to be the community's choice.

Wester Placer County feasts on high school football success - Sac Bee
With both Lincoln and Rocklin High Schools undefeated heading into football playoffs tonight, football fever has taken over Western Placer County.

Families become forever at Adoption Day - Auburn Journal
Saturday is Adoption Day in Placer County. The annual event, now its seventh year, celebrates local adoptions and is in spirit with National Adoption Awareness Month. (Ed. Note - This is for you Aaron Klein!)

It's Mountain Mandarin Festival time - Auburn Journal
Anyone who cherishes Placer’s petite pieces of citrus might consider heading over to the Gold Country Fairgrounds, home to this weekend’s 16th annual Mountain Mandarin Festival.

I received this press release this morning from my good friend Brad Dacus over at the Pacific Justice Institute.  They are doing great work here in California.

For Immediate Release: Thursday, November 19, 2009
Contact: President Brad Dacus (916) 857-6900

Sacramento, CA – At a packed school board meeting last night, the San Juan Unified School District reversed course and voted 3-2 not to go forward with a proposal to hide information from parents about student absences for so-called "confidential medical services," such as abortions.

Council takes step toward smoke-free parks - The Union of Grass Valley
Nevada City Council members asked city staff at their Wednesday meeting to draft an ordinance to ban smoking on city property, including parks and trails.

Rate hike, hiring freeze eyed for water board budget solutions - The Union of Grass Valley
Looking to balance a $22 million budget for 2010, Nevada Irrigation District officials are anticipating a hiring freeze, operational cuts and a water rate hike.

Police investigating Roseville Electric contracts - Roseville Press Tribune
Police have confirmed they are investigating potential financial improprieties by a former Roseville Electric employee.

Placer Parkway moves step closer - Appeal-Democrat
Federal, state and Placer County officials are moving a step closer to choosing a final route alignment for the Placer Parkway.

Most of $500K police grant will go to salaries, benefits - The Union of Grass Valley
The Nevada City Police Department is already collecting applications for new jobs created with its half million-dollar stimulus grant.

Water rate changes up for adoption at Truckee utility district - Truckee Sierra Sun
The Truckee Donner Public Utility District could approve a 1.75 percent increase in resident water rates for each of the the next two years.

Judge settles traffic mitigation fee debate - Loomis News
A Superior Court judge has ordered the City of Rocklin to work with the Town of Loomis on traffic mitigation fees.

Newtown Rd landowners may have dodged NID showdown - The Union of Grass Valley
Landowners concerned that a proposed water pipeline could ruin their riparian environment and wells discovered Wednesday there may be an easy solution.

Truckee home buyer assistance program could be adopted Thursday - Truckee Sierra Sun
A program to help select Truckee home buyers with new-home down payments could be approved Thursday night by town council.

About 100 attend first Tahoe Boulder Bay project public comment phase - Truckee Sierra Sun
Ellie Waller was among about 100 residents, business owners and local figureheads who attended Wednesday's meeting to observe the first public presentation of the 1,589-page Draft Environmental Impact Study that dissects the ecological and economic impact of Boulder Bay, the proposed project in Crystal Bay and Brockway aiming to redevelop the Tahoe Biltmore and Tahoe Mariner sites.

Additional land to become part of the Tahoe National Forest - The Union of Grass Valley
The Tahoe National Forest has just acquired more than 1,000 acres of upper elevation land in four separate transactions. The acquisitions have been finalized during the past two months with contributions from private entities and funding from the Land and Water Conservation Fund, totaling $3 million.

New senior living community proposed for Hilltop development in Truckee - Truckee Sierra Sun
The first project in the Hilltop development could be a senior living center.

Roseville firm steps up to supply Silver Bend Way affordable housing - Auburn Journal
If a deal can be reached with Placer County, a Roseville affordable-housing developer could soon be building on a controversy-prone parcel off Silver Bend Way in Bowman.

Joerger Ranch development readies for eco review - Truckee Sierra Sun
Seventy-one acres straddling the Highway 267/Brockway Road Intersection could see up to 426 homes and 485,00 square feet of commercial space.

GATE changes upset parents - Colfax Record
Former Colfax Elementary School teacher Alexis Cooper told the school board Tuesday night that she was willing to help get the school’s GATE Program going again.

Lincoln High Improvements Almost Done - Lincoln News Messenger
That’s according to Cathy Allen, the Western Placer Unified School District’s assistant superintendent for facilities and maintenance services, at Tuesday night’s school board meeting.

Strong weekend storm expected  - Auburn Journal
A strong storm moving through Friday into Saturday could drop more than a foot of snow at the highest elevations of the Sierra.

Lincoln’s head football coach stays busy - Lincoln News Messenger
Ken Lowe is a busy man. Lincoln High’s varsity football coach balances leading his undefeated team, teaching his health class and spending time with his wife and children.

Meg Whitman is the Eco-Poster Child candidate for governor. When Arnold ran for governor, people told me that Arnold was to the left of Gray Davis on the environment.

Now, Meg Whitman is the latest "Republican" that has gone of the Left Green end of a cliff.

I have been roundly critical of her Megness on a variety of issues and her reliably liberal stances on them. Since she refuses to debate, we are left to ask, "Who is Meg Whitman?"
 
1. She is a Huge fan of Van Jones - the communist that had to be retired due to his embarrassing behavior and its' reflection on Obama.
 
2. She gave not $100K, but $200K (or was it 100K then 200K?) to the EDF. The Environmental Defense Fund spearheaded the lawsuits against the farmers of the Central Valley in favor of the Delta Smelt. Whitman's donations to them were in 2007 - around the time of their court case and around the time she first Registered Republican.
 
3. This article details the recent discovery of her donation of $1.15 million to a land-grabbing organization in Colorado. They won a court case (again) brought by a bunch of residents of Telluride (where Whitman has a horse ranch) aimed at stopping development.
 
The land owner in the case was stripped of his land and paid $50Million for it. The foundation solicited donations from the NIMBY's in the area to pay the guy after he was stripped of his rights by an activist court.
 
Her Spokesman Tucker Bounds says she gave the money after the court case was settled. For those of you scoring at home - Poizner is getting criticized for actions in 2004 - but now we have Whitman in 2008 giving money to leftist environmental causes.
 
Mr. Bounds. - that makes it worse. Now, Whitman is supporting a land-grabbing organization formed by a bunch of rich people that have theirs and wanted to keep others out. And, now Whitman is trapped in the vice-grip created by her actions vs her words.
 
I'm a huge fan of Steve Poizner. Meg Whitman keeps making it easier.

Unforced confession: Sometimes I am an idiot.

This article was all written up in the post field here, and ready to post, and my damn browser crashed. Then I got caught up in elections work, and things fell by the wayside. That's all wrapped up, and now I can write again. Here we go:

Money's not everything in politics, but in political campaigns it's a necessary evil, especially as the population of your constituency grows. In a massive state like California with more than ten major TV markets and tens of millions of potential voters, you need tons of money to run a credible statewide campaign. $3 million could run an entire two-year Congressional campaign most anywhere else. In Cali it can buy you maybe a week of TV spots, if that. Besides that, a strong fundraising operation scares away potential primary and general election opponents, and draws in quality staff and earned media exposure that will only improve your fundraising operations down the road.

It's that reality that stands in the face of a lot of good press that's come Chuck DeVore's way in the past few weeks. He's become a second-tier candidate for the Tea Party movement that toppled Dede Scozzafava and is now training its nukes down here in Florida on Governor Charlie Crist. Conservative darling Jim DeMint has become Chuck's biggest fan, and former Hewlett Packard exec Carly Fiorina has seen her Senate campaign stutter a bunch out of the gate. Add to that polls showing him running competitively with Fiorina among California primary voters and performing about equally with Fiorina in head to head matchups with SENATOR Barbara Boxer, and Chuck would appear to have a lot to smile about.

And then you look at the Orange County Assemblyman's campaign balance sheet. At the end of September 2009, his Senatorial campaign committee reported just $56,000 in liquid cash after debts. Two of his state campaign committees are still in the red. His campaign is having a terrible time raising money, and is spending it almost as quickly as it's taking it in. For serious US Senate candidates, the year before an election is the 12 months you need to spend banking cash for next year. At the rate DeVore is running through his money, he's barely going to meet payroll, travel expenses and sales taxes (I would hope candidates in Cali budget for y'alls draconian consumption taxes). Not something you want to be doing going up against a candidate who can still spend $15-20 million to finance a campaign, not to mention SENATOR Boxer and her considerable warchest after the primary election is over.

I got no skin in this game and this election, at least no more than I have an interest in seeing SENATOR Boxer become Ms. Boxer come January 3, 2011. But for this to happen, either Assemblyman DeVore or Ms. Fiorina needs to prove that they can challenge Boxer both ideologically and financially. For now, Chuck DeVore at least seems to be the right ideological opponent to face off against SENATOR Boxer next year, but Fiorina certainly can be a capable campaigner with the right support system and message. But the bottom line is that in the race to finance a strong campaign in California, DeVore has failed to prove he can raise money on par with Ms. Fiorina. The most damning evidence of this is Ms. Fiorina's very declaration to run for Senate, in addition to the sad state of his campaign's bank account.

Don't take this as a belief that we should stick a fork in Chuck DeVore's campaign. There is still a ways to go, and as mentioned above, money isn't everything, even in huge states. But I will go ahead and say time is rapidly running out for DeVore to make a compelling case that he is a top tier candidate. He's got the support amongst conservative voters in Cali and from conservative opinion leaders throughout the country. But with six weeks left in the current fundraising reporting period, they need to implore conservatives to open their wallets as well as their mouths. Marco Rubio raised a mere $1 million last quarter and turned his campaign from an afterthought to a real shot at an upset. A $2-3 million haul for DeVore would force pundits to give him respect and give him the resources to actually communicate with voters in his state. Anything less than that, and at best he treads water to 2010 for a loss. At worst, Ms. Fiorina steamrolls him in the primary and goes on to face SENATOR Boxer in the general. If there is a Doomsday Clock for political campaigns, DeVore's clock is reading Six Weeks Till Midnight. Between now and December 31, he can bring home the bacon and make the case that he can raise money with the big boys, or if he'll keep treading water and slip into the red, and into the defeat column.