Are Blowouts Coming in California? With Regime Change in November? May 27, 2010 6:00 AM By Larry Kudlow Recent GOP primary polls in the Golden State point to huge victories for Meg Whitman and Carly Fiorina. Whitman is leading by 25 to 27 points in two polls (SurveyUSA and PPP) over Steve Poizner in the governor’s race, while Fiorina has opened up a 20 to 23 point lead against Tom Campbell in the Senate contest, with Chuck Devore trailing well behind. Primary day is June 8.
Whitman has stayed on message, with job creation (12.6% unemployment) and solving the near-bankrupt state’s $20 billion budget deficit her top priorities. She intends to abolish the state’s capital-gains tax while knocking out $15 billion in welfare and other transfer payments that have spiraled out of control. Government union salaries will be frozen, while pension eligibility for retirement will be raised and vesting periods will be increased. She also will aggressively use the state’s powerful line-item veto. And she has taken the no-new-tax pledge as an aggressive promise. Sound like Chris Christie? You betcha.
Steve Poizner made a run at Whitman with his support of the Arizona immigration law. After a brief flurry that temporarily narrowed the polls, surveys out yesterday suggest that Republican primary voters prefer Whitman’s fiscal plan and business expertise to shake up Sacramento’s cesspool politics. Noteworthy are the attack ads on Whitman by SEIU, which sees an end to its outrageous and extravagant financial and political power if Whitman wins.
Carly Fiorina has run on a tea-party platform of rolling back federal spending and reducing tax rates. Limited government is her response to Barack Obama’s Washington and Barbara Boxer’s extreme-left-wing San Francisco values. Fiorina never flinched in opposing Obamacare. She also is pro-life.
Come November, Fiorina will join the new tea-party nucleus in the GOP Senate caucus, while Whitman will change Sacramento after she defeats Jerry Brown, the quintessential yesterday’s man.
