For the first time since the field of potential gubernatorial candidates narrowed to five, consultants for all the candidates appeared on the same stage at the California Chamber of Commerce’s Fall Public Affairs retreat in Napa yesterday.
Steve Glazer, advisor to Jerry Brown’s exploratory committee, joined Garry South chief advisor to the Gavin Newsom campaign, Jim Bognet, Steve Poizner’s campaign manager, Jamie Fisfis with Tom Campbell and Rob Stutzman, consultant to Meg Whitman.
The spin masters dodged and weaved and spun their way through a lively hour-plus presentation.
South said his candidate, Gavin Newsom, did not have to worry about his standing in the polls well behind Jerry Brown, pointing to a number of gubernatorial races over the past two decades in which the leading candidate for governor in early polls did not win.
However, South was quick to fall back on the early polls when challenged by Brown consultant Glazer asking him if Newsom has a better chance to defeat the Republicans. South’s response: Newsom led all Republican candidates in a recent poll.
Glazer kept his answers about Brown’s positions close to his vest prompting Chamber VP and program moderator Rob Lapsley to generate much laughter when he noted Glazer was as clear at answering questions as his boss was.
The Republicans jousted as well. When Stutzman offered that Meg Whitman showed wide support by raising more money from donors that other candidates and grabbed significant endorsements, Bognet countered that “not a few endorsements can be bought.” Bognet said that the Republican base would not turn to a “vote phobic” candidate who only recently registered Republican.
South ventured into the Republican race (as he did effectively in 2002 as Gray Davis’s campaign manager running ads to knock down Richard Riordan and help Bill Simon to the Republican nomination, Davis’s preferred opponent) when he offered that Tom Campbell would be a “great governor, and you can quote me.” But he added that Campbell was not in the same position as Davis in 1998 when he, too, faced much wealthier candidates. South argued that Davis was a safe alternative for Democratic Party Primary voters. South said that Campbell, with his gas tax increase proposal, would not be in step with the Republican base.
Fisfis countered that the perception that Campbell was trying to emulate the Davis campaign was wrong. He said Republicans identify Campbell as conservative, courageous and experienced. If some voters abandon him over the tax issue, Fisfis argued, the Republican voters know his overall record is good and they will not turn to a “poser” for the nomination.
Debate revolved around the issue of public employee unions and how the candidates would deal with the powerful unions if they were elected governor.
On the Democratic side, South said Jerry Brown was organized labor’s guy and that Brown was making deals with organized labor behind closed doors.
Glazer originally ducked the question saying he didn’t know how Brown would deal with the unions. After South’s charge, Glazer shot back with a quote from thirty years ago that Brown as governor was more fiscally conservative that Ronald Reagan.
South had the last word charging that Glazer was re-writing history and that Proposition 13 resulted from Brown’s mismanagement as governor.
Stutzman said public anger against public employee unions’ sense of entitlement would benefit Whitman. He pointed out that Poizner did not furlough his employees in the Insurance Commissioners’ office and said there was no indication that Poizner would stand up to the unions.
Bognet said Poizner would use public opinion outrage to offset union power.
Declaring Campbell a Milton Friedman protégé, Fisfis said Campbell would not back down from union obstinacies and just let them strike.
Countering the image of Brown’s inevitability in winning the Democratic Primary, South appealed directly to the women in the audience, describing Brown as an “old boyfriend coming back to make a pest of himself to rekindle” the relationship. He listed a litany of failures in the Brown family in statewide electoral politics over the years.
And, still 222 days to the June primary!