California's Republican gubernatorial primary is starting to heat up.
Last week, Meg Whitman's scant voting record was the subject of a withering attack by rival Steve Poizner's campaign, which went so far as to demand she drop out.
Reporters have uncovered the facts that Meg Whitman has been desperate to hide.... It is clear she should step aside and allow the Republican Party to select a nominee who can win and start to turn California around.
Now Whitman's team is firing back by drawing attention to $21,000 of contributions made in Steve Poizner's name to Al Gore's 2000 campaign, including $10,000 to Gore's recount committee.
Last week, Poizner maintained that the contributions came from a joint checking account with his wife, and represented her political view points and not his, but Tim Mak at the New Majority had already found that, according to the FEC, both Poizner and his wife have had a history of making separate political contributions.
This afternoon, Meg Whitman's communications director, Tucker Bounds, answered Poizner's volley with a provocative statement of his own, calling Poizner's contributions to Gore an "inconvenient truth" that "will prove to be unacceptable to Republican primary voters".
But Whitman also has a few bipartisan skeletons in her closet, and Capitol Weekly notes that she's contributed to a number of Democratic candidates in the past, including Sen. Barbara Boxer.
When asked to comment this afternoon, Whitman's spokesman, Dan Comstock replied.
"In isolated instances Meg has donated to candidates of the other party in order to support opponents of internet taxes or a co-worker who was a candidate; but one thing is certain she isn't making excuses and she isn't blaming her spouse."
And the Whitman campaign's newest release seems to be sticking with the dual charge of Democrat and Deception in framing Poizner's contributions.
Steve Poizner is blaming his wife and it proves he is the worst kind of politician; the type who will say and do anything. His strong support of an attempt to overturn the legitimate election of George W. Bush is an irrefutable fact that is reflected in federal documents and still Poizner would rather blame his wife than take responsibility.
Who's enjoying this more than political junkies? The front-runners' other opponent, Tom Campbell, who declined to comment on Whitman's voting record last week.
