The failed California political campaigns of Northwest Airlines' Al Checchi, energy executive Michael Huffington and tech entrepreneur Steve Westly are a reminder, Whitman's senior strategist Mike Murphy said, that "there have been a lot of wealthy people and entrepreneurs who have run for office, ... and the conventional wisdom is that wealthy candidates don't do well."
But Whitman ranks among an elite class of political candidates like [Michael] Bloomberg and [George] Romney, who were "high-level CEOs who have a real story with a real company, who are big and respected in their peer group - people who tend to be innovators," Murphy said.
Meanwhile, Tony Quinn goes after Steve Poizner:
Consider his latest. In an effort to brand himself the “true conservative” in the race, Poizner has evoked Tom McClintock in a new radio ad and web posting. It encourages California Republicans to support him because McClintock does.
Tom McClintock may be the single biggest loser in California political history. No other major party candidate has lost so regularly every time he has presented himself to the voters in a statewide election. Look at the record: in 1994, a grand GOP landslide year, McClintock was defeated for state controller. In 2002, a good GOP year nationally, McClintock again was defeated for controller. In 2003, he garnered exactly 14 percent running for governor in the Davis recall. And in 2006, he managed a fourth loss, running for lieutenant governor. With this record Poizner thinks voters should let McClintock pick the GOP gubernatorial contender.
