Great Interview, Steve Poizner Talks to KMPH’s Rob Johnson

I wanted to share with you California Insurance Commissioner, Steve Poizner’s interview with KMPH’s Rob Johnson because I respect his ideas, opinions, and feel his past experiences make him a really great candidate.

Republican candidate for Governor Steve Poizner spoke with Modesto's Rob Johnson of KMPH this morning to discuss his campaign for governor of California. In the interview, Steve discusses his budget proposal for California and Meg Whitman’s refusal to debate the issues, among other topics. To listen to the entire interview with Rob Johnson, copy and paste the link below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4sLDmhgcoJE&tr=y&auid=5806558

[Partial Transcript – Starting at 3:22]

ROB JOHNSON: I surely have to agree with you that one of Meg Whitman’s weaknesses is her openness to go into public debate and the interview that we did with her here on this program was pre-recorded from the afternoon before. And I think she’s a little concerned because she doesn’t have any political experience and I think she’s concerned, probably, about having to get out and answer tough questions and work quick on her feet when she’s standing in front of potential voters, and that’s got to say something too about her performance as governor if, on the campaign so far, that’s her behavior.

STEVE POIZNER: Well, these campaigns are tough, they’re grueling, and they need to be that way, and voters are watching carefully and they’re looking for the personal characteristics and the backbone and the vision and the stamina to actually be governor of this great state. And the fact is, Meg Whitman has a very interesting background and lots of great experiences in marketing positions at Disney and Hasbro and so forth, but the fact is, being in politics is just a different business. The fact is, being successful and effective in politics requires a different skill set. It’s not like being a CEO in a boardroom where you’re in command, barking out orders, hiring and firing people at will. Being effective in Sacramento requires cajoling skills and arm twisting skills and the ability to put together winning coalitions. In my case, the reason why I think I have such an interesting value proposition so to speak for voters right now is I’m the only one running that has 20 years of experience at starting companies from scratch. And that important entrepreneurial experience is very distinctive as compared to running big companies. And then in addition to my ability to bring jobs back to California and my 20 years of experience at running companies, I now have eight years of success in politics and public sector service. A year in the White House during the 9-11 crisis building a new homeland security plan, time in the classroom teaching kids in a low income area, running successfully statewide, being Insurance Commissioner now for three years, and downsizing my operating budget by 15% and creating a huge surplus at the Department of Insurance. This track record of success, both in the private sector and the public sector, will distinguish me in this race, and that’s what voters are looking for right now. They’ve had it with career politicians, and they also are not ready to turn the state over to a rookie either. So I’m ready to step forward here as a problem solver, really hit these problems head-on and get this great state back on track. ...

[9:18]

ROB JOHNSON: You’re not counting on getting any money from the federal government, you’re not counting on $7 billion coming from the federal government to help us.

STEVE POIZNER: No, that’s pretty much fantasy. I mean, I agree with the Governor that the federal government owes us some money. For example, we spend a billion a year covering the costs of illegal immigrants in our prisons. Now the government should pay us for that, but the fact is we’ve been trying to get that money for decades now, so the likelihood that we’re going to get any kind of federal bailout again -- we already got billions and billions in bailout money -- the likelihood is pretty small. And frankly, every time we get bailed out, it just covers over the real problem. It’s time that we balance our own budget. These one-time revenue shots really just procrastinate the inevitable. We’ve got to deal with our own problems here. ...

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