Money Makes the Candidate
Hope springs eternal but all too often that spring does not deliver enough moisture to make spit. I went to a local forum to hear Meg Whitman and Steve Poizner discuss why one of them should be the next governor of The Golden State. Whitman, the former eBay chief, had canceled but Poizner, the state’s Insurance Commissioner, was there.
I was surprised that he showed up. Poizner had made onerous headlines earlier in the week, announcing that a consultant to Whitman had tried to bribe him to drop out of the race. Poizner said he’d sent letters complaining to the FBI, and to the state’s attorney general, who happens to be Jerry Brown who will likely be the Democratic nominee for governor.
Virtually everyone in politics and the media thought Poizner had acted like an idiot, at best. No one saw a hint of malfeasance.
I thought maybe Poizner was suffering from over-consulting. He had poured $20 million of his own money into his campaign while Whitman had invested $40 million into hers and both had spent hugely on presumed campaign experts. From what we’ve seen of both these candidates, if they’ve heeded the consultants’ advice, they are bigger fools than if they were just ripped off.
It was discouraging to watch Poizner performing before all of thirty people whose reaction to the ridiculous nonsense he spouted was similar to barking seals. The scene spoke to the state not only our of democratic process but also of our civilization. There was a quality of the naked emperor about the event.
California really is governable, despite the black thoughts that say otherwise. But the state requires leadership – to map out a viable route to economic stability, and to get the very diverse population at large, along with the legislature, behind it. There is no one on the political stage today who exhibits even a hint of the kind of leadership needed to pull that off. No amount of money or consultants can fix that.
©2010 SetonnoteS
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