DeVore Should Drop Out of the Senate Race in California and Endorse Fiorina (Hot Air Goes Wobbly)

Hot Air ^ | 5-17-10 | CK MaCleod

[TitansAFC]

Chuck DeVore is a solid conservative, very well-qualified to be senator or to hold other important offices or positions, but he doesn’t seem to have a prayer of both overtaking Carly Fiorina and defeating Tom Campbell in the June 8 Republican senate primary. He should drop out and, following Sarah Palin’s lead, endorse Fiorina for the good of the conservative movement, the state, and the nation.

I’m not going to attempt to compare Fiorina to DeVore: That would have been a more worthwhile undertaking if Campbell, supposedly at the behest of gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman, hadn’t switched to the senate race at the beginning of the year. The real comparison should be between any-conservative and Campbell, who, in addition to being just the kind of bland establishment politician that Tea Party conservatives were invented to bring down, has an extremely dubious history of support for radical Islamist and anti-Israeli groups, ideologues, and activists that may give Barbara Boxer an opening she doesn’t deserve, and that in any event many conservatives will find difficult to forgive and forget.

California conservatives, who, to say the least, used to be a major positive factor in state and national politics, have a reputation gained since after Ronald Reagan’s time, and especially since the ’90s, of preferring ideological purity and self-defeating gestures over success and influence. Chuck DeVore has a chance to show that they’re now capable of mature calculation and team play. The chance of running against and defeating Barbara Boxer with a candidate pursuing an authentically conservative agenda is too important to sacrifice to anyone’s personal feelings or ambitions, or understandable desire to prove to himself and his dedicated supporters that he’s a fighter to the end.

Currently, Campbell appears to have a solid but not insurmountable plurality lead over Fiorina, with DeVore’s third-place vote more than making up the potential difference. That’s been the pattern in all or almost all polls since Cambell’s entry into the race. Often, the #3 candidacy in a struggle like this one collapses, as voters decide not to waste their votes. If that happens, there’s not a bad chance that DeVore and his ardent supporters will get the worst outcome: An embarrassing showing just strong enough to hand the race to the candidate with whom they have the least in common, while leaving division and recrimination behind among conservatives, reinforcing the perception that they’re too self-destructive to matter, at just the time that the state and the country need them.

Unless DeVore and his supporters can make a convincing case – based on real world numbers, including campaign cash on hand and credible polling – that he can win the primary, he should drop out, the sooner the better, offering an unqualified endorsement of Carly Fiorina, and looking forward to a bright future in state and national politics as a respected and significant player in a grown-up conservative movement – coming back, on the rise, unified, and ready to make a real difference in the Golden State and beyond.

[Extremely Extreme Extremist]

What's sad and frustrating is that no one wants to talk about Campbell. If conservatives spent their time and effort attacking Campbell rather than wasting it on Palin and Carly, then Campbell would decline in the polls.

Brilliant strategy there. Yeah, let's get into a pissing match with the 2nd place candidate and we can argue over who's more conservative, while the real liberal Republican takes the high road and is on the verge of winning. In fact, what DeVore should have done is completely ignore Carly. Just pretend it's a two-man race between you and Campbell. You attack the lead dog, not fight over sloppy seconds.

[stephenjohnbanker]

“I think the RINO Fiorina should drop out and endorse DeVore, how about that?”

How about t h a t Mr. Fong??

[HANG THE EXPENSE]

Hot air is worried that their liberal friends wont talk to them anymore.Somebody tell what its like to have liberal friends.Not that I really care.

[Avoiding_Sulla]

she'll tow the party line.

That line is the one dictated by her sponsor, McCain.
It's an old and tired line.
It's the line of a loser.

Should McCain somehow survive his own reelection, her win would only increase his power to form an anti-conservative bloc. Is that what you want? To increase McCain's abiltiy to scuttle conservatives?

Well, it that's the line you want, I fear you've lost your bearing mariner. That is not the take back the opposition leadership line that is driving the Tea Party. You've hitched your efforts to the Statist line, and it is NOT conservative.

Sickoflibs said it best:

This is the Republican BOOM year. If we can't choose conservatives like DeVore this year then there will never be a right time.

[Avoiding_Sulla]

Now that Hot Air is owned by Salem Broadcasting, I expect this to be only the beginning. Their talkshow hosts will next jump ship one at a time. Medved led the McCain backing campaign, so maybe this time they’ll let Bennett do it. Before the day of the primary, I expect more of Salem hosts will back Fiorina than not. It may well be all of them. Do not trust Salem Broadcasting.

[arthurus]

Fiorina looks like Pelosi sounds only Fiorina should have a deeper voice.

[Mariner]

Can you name an issue where Fiorina and DeVore are at odds?

Something in say, the last 24 months?

So you know, I'll be voting for DeVore in the primary...along with 14% of the rest of the primary voters.

But that doesn't mean I could not vote for Fiorina...or that she's not good enough for a vote at all.

I will not suffer Babs Boxer again. I'll vote for my candidate in the primary and I'll vote GOP in the general.

Where I BREAK with many here on FR (and for perspective, I'm in the belly of the beast here in Sacramento) is that I will turn out in the general and I WILL vote for the Republican candidate on the ballot...straight line.

However, there are some here that will not vote for Fiorina even in the general. That's just plain dumb and counter-productive too.

[marron]

I will not suffer Babs Boxer again. I'll vote for my candidate in the primary and I'll vote GOP in the general.

You and I are on the same page.

[Syncro]

They stole this idea from Jane Jamison at uncoverage.net

Open Letter to Carly Fiorina: Please Quit and Support Chuck DeVore

5/15/2010, 2:29:59 PM · by meadsjn · 21 replies · 806+ views

UNCOVERAGE.net ^ | May 15, 2010 | Jane Jamison, UNCOVERAGE.net

Open Letter to Carly Fiorina: Please Quit and Support Chuck DeVore

Posted on 15 May 2010 by admin

I am offering an open, heartfelt letter to Carly Fiorina, GOP candidate for U.S. Senate in California. I hope many people will send it to her and she will take this advice. I give this advice, as someone not paid for this commentary by any individual or by any campaign, though I do support Chuck DeVore.

I write this to you Carly, because I am your age, I have been covering politics since the late 1970s and I have seen a...

[Avoiding_Sulla]

Fair question. I did some research to answer your question that anyone can do with a web crawler.

1. Internet Restrictions: We already know that she glibly equated speech on the Internet with the Wild West (see the video that pops up in the beginning of every other FR thread) and that it's in need of regulation. I'm pretty sure DeVore hasn't come out in favor of abridging the 1st Amendment's free speech provision.
2. Cap and Trade: Speaking at the 2008 Republican National Convention in Minneapolis, MN, she praised Sen. John McCain’s (R-AZ) cap-and-trade plan as something that would “both create jobs and lower the cost of energy”:

   I know John McCain. And in 2013, America will be more energy-independent because of his determination that we must power our own country, and his long-standing commitment to protecting our environment. John McCain will create a cap-and-trade system that will encourage the development of alternative energy sources. He will help advance clean coal technology, and nuclear power. And all of this will both create jobs and lower the cost of energy.

   She is currently flipping against cap and trade; but given her loyalties lie with McCain, I would not count on her flip not flopping back.
3. Gun Control: I'm told she's flipped on this, but I haven't found it yet.
4. Pro-Life: She doesn't think that a SCOTUS candidate's position on infanticide is relevant. She's afraid, as are so many GOP, to tackle Boxer in what may be Boxer's strong suit with so-called feminists. The vast majority of women are not in favor of infanticide. If Fiorina believed in Pro-life (rather than merely take that position to win the primary), and was to stress that in the November election, Boxer would have no where to hide. But Fiorina is soft on this from what I gather. I am willing to be proven wrong in my assessment. Can you?

Mariner, you asked me for ONE. I did what I could to give you more. I hope others who dislike Fiorina can give you more. Those who like Fiorina are sure to tell me where I'm wrong. Please proceed.

[Carry_Okie]

Realize that with a UN "small arms control" treaty in the wings, it is a lot easier to come out for gun rights knowing that the treaty will make the point moot.

[Poincare]

The real comparison should be between any-conservative and Campbell, who,[....] has an extremely dubious history of support for radical Islamist and anti-Israeli groups, ideologues, and activists that may give Barbara Boxer an opening she doesn’t deserve, and that in any event many conservatives will find difficult to forgive and forget.

Conservatives that care about Israel will vote for Boxer over Campbell.

Either Fiorina or DeVore should drop out and throw support to the other.

[Carry_Okie]

http://freerepublic.com/focus/news/2511687/posts?page=94#94

[Gene Eric]

Sickoflibs said it best:

This is the Republican BOOM year. If we can't choose conservatives like DeVore this year then there will never be a right time.

---

bttt

[sickoflibs]

RE :”This is the Republican BOOM year. If we can't choose conservatives like DeVore this year then there will never be a right time. “

Thanks you two!

[stephenjohnbanker]

“
This is the Republican BOOM year. If we can’t choose conservatives like DeVore this year then there will never be a right time.

W I N N E R

[CAluvdubya]

Brilliant strategy there. Yeah, let's get into a pissing match with the 2nd place candidate and we can argue over who's more conservative, while the real liberal Republican takes the high road and is on the verge of winning.

Yep, it's the FR way....We are going to end up with Boxer vs Campbell. That is one race I'll just sit out.

If the Gov. is between Whitman and Brown...I'll sit that one out, too.

[kevkrom]

This is the Republican BOOM year. If we can't choose conservatives like DeVore this year then there will never be a right time.

The counter-argument is that if DeVore can't run a credible enough campaign in such an environment to get out of third place, then he's simply not up to the task of running in the race.

Cuts both ways, you know.

[Avoiding_Sulla]

Your comment places all the blame on DeVore. It's not him, it's US.

1. Chuck is very unlike Fiorina or Campbell. The former has been spending the loot that HP paid to be rid of her. The latter Campbell is funded significantly from the Left such as unions (can't wait until prop 14 gets passed apparently). Chuck's money is coming from small donors. I'm a very late example to his funding.

2.Speaking of being late; there is the real blame for Chuck's lagging in money and recognition. Conservatives like me who are slow to get involved. Hell, we wouldn't be conservative were we fast. :)

A chief problems of conservatives is that we tend not to want to move unless forced to do so. When the Progressives of the nineteenth century started labeling their adversaries as reactionaries, they weren’t far off. It still takes a palpable threat to get us off the dime. Please demonstrate how I’m wrong about that. Lie to me if you have to.

I believe Chuck is a real conservative because he has this too common trait of a conservative.

As for myself, I hate getting involved, and I think there are a great deal here just like me, maybe even you. Most of us simply want to be left alone. We don't want to tell others what to do.

The next problem is that in order to be true to our principles we need to be involved because the Leftists and Statists will not leave us alone. So we are forced into playing the game. When we don't play, we cede the field to those who WILL intrude upon us. So we're stuck with the responsibility to fight or we're accepting that we're victims. I do not see any other way to look at this.

Instead of fighting with me, fight for Chuck. If you're really conservative, recognize he's the candidate who is closest to the idea behind the Tea Party revolt. DO NOT LET THIS CHANCE SLIP AWAY. Please.

[kevkrom]

Your comment places all the blame on DeVore. It's not him, it's US.

As I said, it cuts both ways. You point out as much in your post. He's been running for this seat for nearly a year, and doesn't have the funding or organization to have made a significant impact in the race to date. Place blame for this as desired, but it doesn't change the situation.

A last-ditch effort, after early voting has already started, seems to me to be overlate.