Yesterday, Capitol Weekly broke the news that the California Chamber of Commerce pulled its critical TV ad of Jerry Brown after receiving complaints from Brown, his wife, and their friends.
Last time I checked, we were in the midst of an Election Season. And the last time I checked, Elections were occasions when people actually took sides based upon their convictions.
The truth is, that ad was the most refreshing thing to come out of the Chamber in years. It was a tough yet entirely fair analysis of Brown. Widely known as the Godfather of the public employee pension crisis that is now destroying the state of California and the instigator of the global warming silliness that will literally kill our economy, there has never been a Governor more out-of-touch with businesses and taxpayers than Jerry Brown. By pulling the ad, Cal Chamber threw a damp cloth on what could have been the most virile effort to take down the one threat that stands in the way of a new generation in California.
I suppose what irks me and so many Conservatives out there (fiscal and otherwise), is the absolute capitulation to the far left. If you believe for one minute that a Labor Union would ever – ever – back down on a political ad, well, I’ve got a cart full of snow cones in hell I’d like to sell you.
Seems to me the only organization with real guts in this town anymore is the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association. In full disclosure they are one of my clients, which is all the more reason I can speak to seeing – firsthand – their leadership willing to go any distance, face any political storm, and expend any amount of blood, sweat and tears to ensure the taxpayer is protected.
But the Chamber? They seem to be content with bringing a handheld fire extinguisher to a 4-alarm fire. It will be too little, too late.
To be sure, this piece will probably keep me from ever getting a job at Cal Chamber. Alas, I have this pesky little habit of calling it as I see it – which is funny, because the way I see it so often happens to be the way Millions of voters see it. Perhaps that’s why my clients have won their last three Statewide elections while the Chamber, despite normally outspending us 20-to-1, hasn’t been quite as victorious.
By agreeing to pull the TV ad, the Chamber of Commerce no doubt thinks it’s proven itself as the more esteemed, gentlemanly institution of all institutions. But make no mistake, all it has proven is that taking the path of least resistance all too often means sitting by while Rome is burning.
As we move into the General Election in November, I urge you to look around, friends, taxpayers and businessmen. Remember who your true heroes are. And the next time someone asks you what the California Chamber of Commerce actually sells, tell ’em the truth: They sell out the very people whom they are supposed to serve: YOU.