In 1966, California Democrats undercut George Christopher in hopes that Ronald Reagan would win the GOP gubernatorial primary. The tactic backfired when Reagan proved to be a strong candidate. In 2002, they attacked Richard Riordan in hopes that Bill Simon would defeat him. This time, it worked.
And now, as Steve Harmon reports:
Democrats are injecting themselves directly into the Republican primary with a so-called issues ad that is an obvious outright attack on GOP gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman. It’s all under the guise of asking voters to sign a petition and call Congress to support a bill, Senate Bill 506, that would close a tax loophole that allows the wealth to hide assets in offshore tax havens like the Cayman Island and Bermude. Oh, by the way, Meg Whitman ironically is doing that very thing! Though the state Republican Party sniffed at the sneaky, underhanded ploy, the Whitman campaign actually seemed quite pleased to see that the Democratic Party still views her to be the candidate to beat.
Calbuzz wanted to discuss the strategic political purpose of the ad, so we rang up CDP Chairman John Burton. He insisted the purpose of the ad is to support Levin’s anti-tax haven legislation (as if this were the No. 1 priority for the California Democratic Party). When we said we were hoping to have an honest discussion about the political strategy of the ad, Burton exploded: “Are you calling me a liar? [EXPLETIVE DELETED] you!” And he hung up the phone. Hey Burton! Thanks for nothing, you jackass.
