Revenge of the Nerds: Can Steve Poizner Save California?

We here at Johnny California have not yet decided who we like in the 2010 gubernatorial election (and yes, we wish there were a better word than “gubernatorial” to describe a governor’s election).  But we can say this — Steve Poizner ain’t lookin’ so bad so far.   The truth of the matter is that nobody really wants the job, so there’s only three real candidates:  Jerry Brown for the Dems, Meg Whitman and Steve Poizner for the GOP.

Jerry Brown’s campaign is downright bizarre.  His slogan is “Let’s get California working again.”  But then if you go to his website, there is NO PLAN as to how he’s going to accomplish that.   This is classic Jerry Brown, all sizzle no steak.   The truth of the matter is that he’s is way past his sell-by date and he literally has NO PLAN.  He accomplished nothing as Mayor of Oakland and less than nothing as Attorney General.   He’s the same old egomaniac he’s always been, his bid for the governor’s mansion is nothing more than a grasp at past glory – he’s the political equivalent of Norma Desmond wanting her one last closeup.  We simply can’t imagine voting for him.

Meg Whitman is plain scary.  Her entire goal seems to win, from the $40 million plus she has pledged to her campaign, to her refusal to talk to the media, to her phony “town halls” – where people with opposing viewpoints are escorted out by the police, to her over-the-top negative ads against Steve Poizner, we have no idea what she stands for or who she is.  And no, we’re not impressed by the fact that she ran ebay from 1998 until 2007, come on.  The trick to running eBay from 1998 until 2007 was to stand back and watch the money roll in.  It wasn’t exactly a turnaround story – she was in the right place at the right time. Before ebay she was the CEO for FTD (the florists) and then Hasbro (the children’s toy company).  She has ZERO public service experience and ZERO experience in California politics — which, as we learned from Gov. Schwarzenegger’s tenure is actually important in California.

And that brings us to Poizner — OK we don’t know a lot about him.  But we do know this, he’s got a plan.  Go to his website and see for yourself.  The guy has put some real thought as to how he can right the ship.  It may not be a plan we agree with, but right now – he’s the only one with real ideas.  We are also intrigued by his thoughtful approach to spending cuts.  He also is more than a former CEO, he actually started two wildly successful software companies from scratch and he’s spent the last four years as California’s Insurance Commissioner – a gritty, non-glamorous, out-of-the-spotlight elected office.

The bottom line is this:  Steve Poizner is a nerd.  And right now California does not need a blowhard relic from another era or a showboating corporate executive trying to wow us with her cash flow.  Right now California needs a nerd who will actually do the hard work.  Poizner may just be that nerd.  We’ll see.