In the greatest tactical move since Hannibal whup-assed the Romans, Meg Whitman has stolen a march on Steve Poizner, copping an invite to fly the flag a day early at this weekend’s NASCAR racing in Fontana.
With Poizner set to ride in the pace car at the start of tomorrow’s Sprint Cup Auto Club 500, eMeg will wield the green flag for tonight’s NASCAR Nationwide Series Stater Brothers 300, with a field of drivers that includes auto racing buzz queen Danica Patrick.
“Sunday will be the only time Steve Poizner leads a race all year,” snarked Team Whitman spokeshuman, the volcanic Sara Pompei.
Although the Saturday night race is the AAA equivalent to Sunday’s Major League event, eMeg’s late entry into the NASCAR panderstakes came as a surprise that may take some of the steam out of the appearance by The Commish.
Bottom line: When Calbuzz speaks, the campaigns listen.
P.S. eMeg’s sudden agreement Friday to participate in a second debate with Poizner, this one to be broadcast May 2 on the electric television, may also help to blunt Poizner’s effort to foment trouble with a peasants-with-pitchforks petition demanding the two to face off at the March 13 GOP convention.
On the other hand, it kinda undercuts the “Hey, Hey, Steve, Steve, Get Out of My Race” line that the Armies of eMeg have been broadcasting to agree to join him in a debate in May. Talk about your mixed messages.
Negative Exposure for Hurricane Carly: The latest independent expenditure committee to surface in California — in the wake of the two aimed at boosting Jerry Brown for governor — is “CarlyExposed.com,” an operation by the Lantern Project, a labor-funded political organization that waged a campaign against now-former Republican U.S. Senator Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania.
“The first aim of the Lantern Project’s work in California is to make sure as many voters as possible are exposed to the facts about Carly Fiorina,” says Julie Buckner, a Los Angeles political strategist working with The Lantern Project. “It is absolutely our goal to help Californians understand that Carly is nothing like the innovative, problem-solving high-tech whiz kid she portrays herself to be, and to blunt misleading information conveyed to voters by Carly’s slick and well-financed campaign committee.”
At the moment, Buckner acknowledged, Carlyexposed is just a web site, a media plan and a fund-raising plan. But Buckner, an experienced political operative in Los Angeles (who also runs InYoga Center which fronts for her Laurel Canyon Media Group out back), and partner Celia Fischer expect to have a thriving anti-Carly operation running soon.
A preview: On the site is a video clip from a report by Mark Matthews of KGO-TV showing that Fiorina was for taxing internet sales before she was against it.
Buckner, Fischer and their liberal labor allies are strong supporters of Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer who, according to sources, is more worried about a challenge from Fiorina (because she is a woman with some appeal to independent voters), than she is about Assemblyman Chuck DeVore or former U.S. Rep. Tom Campbell. Thus the focus on Fiorina.
“On the occasion of Barbara Boxer formally getting into this race, it comes as no surprise that her public employee union allies would use a shady 527 organization to falsely attack Carly,” said Fiorina spokeswoman Julie Soderlund. “Carly is clearly the candidate Boxer would least like to face in the general election because she knows Carly can beat her and will hold her accountable for her failed record.”
Whether Fiorina represents the greatest threat to Boxer, however, is arguable. Because he’s pro-choice, pro-gay rights and pro-environment, Campbell might well represent an even greater threat to Boxer in a general election. Helping knock out Fiorina in the primary could backfire on Boxer’s allies in the fall. Don’t say we didn’t warn you.
Tom Meyer today offers perspective on the, um, PR problem facing the spinners for Blue Cross Anthem, after the company imposed 39 percent health insurance rate increases for California customers.
In a weird week filled with political meltdowns and corporate furors, the Blue Cross controversy was just one of many challenges facing highly-paid professional liars, who did their collective best to draw happy faces on dreadful situations.
Here’s the Calbuzz Top 10 quotes of the week.
I was unfaithful. I had affairs. I cheated. What I did was not acceptable.
–Tiger Woods, master of understatement and major jackass
It’s not a secret that she has a medical condition for which she’s being treated. That condition does not affect her ability to do her job as a senator. But it can make her irritable, and when she’s irritable, she lets it be known.
–David Miller, press secretary to state Senator Pat Wiggins, D-Santa Rosa, challenging Tiger on spin, after his boss went nuclear at a hearing when a staffer forgot to refill a water pitcher.
History shows that great companies learn from their mistakes.
–Toyota USA president and CEO Jim Lentz, getting a little ahead of himself, in a full-page ad seeking to stop the bleeding as consumer confidence in his company plummets.
I was thinking tonight, I was trying to figure out that if I did announce, what the hell would I say?
–Jerry Brown, offering insight into why he’s running for governor, in a widely panned speech in San Francisco.
On a personal level I am glad that (Jerry Brown) has married. As I watched him awkwardly dance in the 1980’s with a songstress late at night at Eilish’s Bar, I gave his social development little chance. The subsequent growth may indicate some Brown progress.
–Former Congressman and current Calbuzz commentator Ernie Konnyu on how well Brown is not only aging, but maturing too.
If a Customer cannot comfortably lower the armrest and infringes on a portion of another seat, a Customer seated adjacent would be very uncomfortable and a timely exit from the aircraft in the event of an emergency might be compromised if we allow a cramped, restricted seating arrangement.
–A spokeswoman for Southwest Airlines, dancing as fast as she can, after the airline was criticized for booting 340-pound director Kevin Smith off a flight for being too fat.
So, what I’m trying to do is run a smart, strategic campaign. We’re trying to get our message out.
–Republican wannabe Governor Meg Whitman moments before fleeing into the night to avoid answering questions from reporters at an appearance in Lafayette.
I was stupid and careless and fucked up and thought [the copy from the Wall Street Journal) was my own stuff, or it somehow slipped in there.
–Fired NYT business reporter Zachary Kouwe, setting a world record for prevarication to avoid taking responsibility for being a plagiarist.
If the Olympic champion doesn’t know how to jump a quad, I don’t know. Now it’s not men’s figure skating. It’s dancing. Maybe figure skating needs a new name.
–Dethroned Olympics skating champion and roundhouse jerk Yevgeny Plushenko trash talking American Evan Lysacek’s victory performance for not including a quadruple jump.
You know, I don’t live here.
–Jacques Barzaghi, international man of mystery and banished and disgraced former Jerry Brown aide caught lurking around Oakland by the Chronicle’s Chip Johnson.
Since jillionaire eMeg Whitman is the only person in California politics who could make multi-millionaire Steve “The Commish” Poizner look like a beggar with a tin cup, it’s time for Steverino to lose the Silicon Valley blue blazer and loafers look and go all NASCAR on her Megness.
Now that it’s been proved that an obscure politician can win high office just by driving a GMC Canyon pickup and playing Everyman against an arrogant, high-handed, entitled opponent (see Brown, Sen. Scott) it’s time for you to get a “Built Tough” Ford F-150. Some Playboy mud flaps with little silhouette naked ladies 
and a gun rack would be nice; a 12-gauge would be a special touch. You should put Tanner, your Golden Retriever, in the back. Also a bumper sticker: We recommend the classic “Fortuna’s Got It,” for the North Coast redneck vote.
Enough of the campaigning in the drawing rooms of Sacramento, Los Angeles and (gasp) San Francisco, it’s time to get out with the real people: You need to do more hand-shaking outside of Home Depot, Walmart and Target, with stops over in the Food Court for a shake and some fries. (Note to Obvious: You film this and put it in TV ads.) Lose the Chardonnay and the extended pinkie and start wrapping a fist around a long-necked Bud. T
he jeans and shirt in the web page photo are pretty good (obviously a pro dressed you for that shot). But now that we’re in the thick of it, we suggest a John Deere ball cap as a standard accessory.
martial arts – which is hotter right now – and we’d like to see you (and your film crew) attend some World Wrestling Entertainment events like the Road to Wrestlemania, presented by WWE Raw in the evening on March 14 at the Rabobank Arena in Bakersfield. What a perfect way to come out of the state GOP convention, by showing you roll with your peeps.
up event, a place where you can work the crowd. (Note: DO NOT get introduced or ride in a pace car – you WILL be booed. It’s mandatory for NASCAR fans to boo any politician who holds himself out as some sort of icon.) But you can’t spend too much time in Fontana, Indio and Culver City, mingling and shaking hands at events with real people, as opposed to those phony staged happenings where eMeg hangs out with pre-selected Republicans who are only interested in sniffing her spectator pumps.
It’s time to find the right endorsers and we’ve got the perfect guy: the amply-tattooed Jesse James, host of “Monster Garage” and Sandra Bullock’s husband. You’ll get extra special love from the Secret Order of Republican Women Who Hate Meg because Jesse is embroiled in a custody battle with a porn star (who isn’t these days?) — Janine Lindemulder, his ex –- over their 6-year-old daughter, Sunny. A benefit of nabbing Jesse: You might get Sandra, too.
Finally, forget about those old fashioned, dead tree operations like the Sacramento Bee, San Francisco Chronicle, San Jose Mercury News and Los Angeles Times. That’s a waste of time. Spend more time with Car & Driver, Field & Stream, Ladies Home Journal and Penthouse and be sure to stay in touch with ear-to-the-ground operations like Calbuzz. These guys have their finger in the California socket.
