Day: October 13, 2010

FL Sen: Crist Gets an Endorsement That Would Be the Kiss of Death to a California Candidate

Jon Ponder

The last thing candidates of either party running for high offices in California would want these days is the endorsement of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. In fact, among the four candidates for governor and senator, the one who would want his endorsement the least is Meg Whitman, the candidate running for his job in his own party.

“When it comes to inflicting ‘Collateral Damage’ on the economy, Charlie Crist and Arnold Schwarzenegger are definitely ‘Twins.’ Charlie’s flip-flops have made him a master at telling ‘True Lies.’”
– Rubio campaign

The political stank around Schwarzenegger apparently has not drifted 3,000 miles southeast to Florida, however:

Gov. Charlie Crist lost endorsements from prominent Republicans when he bolted the party for an independent Senate run, but one is sticking by him: California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Schwarzenegger made his announcement over Twitter on Tuesday. He summed up his thoughts on Crist in 136 characters: “I endorse Gov (at)charliecristfl for Senate. Great leader, works with both parties, and our country needs someone like him in DC right now.”

The campaign of Crist’s GOP tea bagger opponent, Marco Rubio — which is apparently run by third-graders — shot back by cleverly incorporating titles from Schwarzenegger’s film oeuvre into their news alert:

“When it comes to inflicting ‘Collateral Damage’ on the economy, Charlie Crist and Arnold Schwarzenegger are definitely ‘Twins.’ Charlie’s flip-flops have made him a master at telling ‘True Lies.'”

If that was so funny you forgot to laugh, it’s probably because you don’t have “Total Recall.”

But seriously Rubio campaign, poking fun of Arnold using titles of his films is ssoooo 2003.

Trish and Buck unwittingly contributed to this article.

Verbatim

Buck Banks

I tell you what, there’s real trust, that’s why he’s asked me to run again. Look, he said, ‘We’re going to run together, are you going to run?’ I said, ‘Of course, you want me to run with you, I’m happy to run with you.’

— Vice President Joe Biden, to the New York Times, asserting that he will be on the ticket with President Obama in 2012.

CA Gov: Whitman’s Hypocrisy on ‘Whore’ Issue Evokes Laughter from Debate Audience

Jon Ponder

View more news videos at: http://www.nbcbayarea.com/video.

The “Whoregate” controversy was front and center in the final California gubernatorial debate between Jerry Brown and Meg Whitman last night. The controversy arose last week after the release of a secretly recorded conversation among Brown and his aides in which an adviser suggested attacking Whitman as a “whore” because she had sold out her own strong opposition to unions in order to receive a union endorsement.

The Whitman campaign has repeatedly portrayed the comment as a misogynist slur. But Brown came to the debate prepared and, in a single deft stroke, he managed to put the gaffe in context, undercut Whitman’s manufactured outrage and expose her as a hypocrite:

WHITMAN: So Jerry, it’s not just me, it’s the people of California who deserve better than slurs and personal attacks. That’s not what California is about. It is not our better selves. And I, um, think people know exact…I think every Californian, and especially women, know exactly what’s going on here. And that is a deeply offensive term to women.

BROWN: Well, can I just interject? Have you chastised your chairman, Pete Wilson, who called Congress “whores” to the public sector unions?

WHITMAN: You know better than that Jerry. That’s a completely different thing. The fact you are defending your campaign…

[Derisive LAUGHTER from audience.]

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