Some of the readers of FA might know of Larry Elder. Known as “The Sage of South Central” he hosted a radio show on our local LA station KABC for close to 15 years when he ended it last December in hopes of starting a political career. No man would have been better to challenge Boxer in my opinion.
But something funny happened along the way. The state NRSC and Senator Cornyn told him not to because they really want to support someone sure to lose, Carly Fiorina.
You know Larry Elder: the African-American, Californian, libertarian, popular radio host and firebrand. He’s been around for a while, and he’s a solid presence on the California media-and-politics scene. Elder is a serious name and presence among California Republicans. He just wrapped up his radio show. “Why,” you might ask, “doesn’t Larry Elder run for the Senate?”
There is an answer accorinding to many of Elder’s friends at the Republican Convention — Senator Cornyn and the NRSC told him not to.
Here’s the story that is circulating at the convention: Back in the spring, Elder went to Washington to sit down with John Cornyn and the NRSC, and ask for their support for a bid for U.S. Senate against Barbara Boxer. Cornyn and the NRSC told him the following:
1. If Elder chose to run, they would not support him.
2. The NRSC was already committed to supporting Carly Fiorina
3. The NRSC expected Fiorina to lose against Boxer, but expected her to tie up Democrat resources in the meantime.So Larry Elder came back to California and did not run. You know the rest: he’s watched the Fiorina campaign move from crisis to crisis (failure to vote, Iran sales, revelation of no self-funding, no CRP attendance, this Rasmussen poll, that website, etc.), and feeling increasingly frustrated. It’s probably too late for him to enter and Larry is hot under the collar that Cornyn gave him such terrible advice. So he’s talking to his friends — and his friends are talking to us — and I’m talking to you.
How incompetent is this? The NRSC actually told a popular African-American with statewide name recognition to NOT run? Last I checked, our party isn’t overflowing with those.
Oh, and the NRSC expects Carly Fiorina to lose to Barbara Boxer — and they told a talk radio host this?
California Republicans are used to a parade of incompetence and self-defeating stupidity at the highest levels of our beloved party. But this goes beyond what we’re used to.
And we wonder why our party is in such shambles. Carly is an Obama prototype….lots of talk, not a whole lot of substance. And this is the one our leadership decided to run against Boxer!
Argh!
I’m not sure if it’s too late for him to enter or not. They say it is but with his name recognition in the state he may be able to get the funding needed.
Run Larry Run!
See author page
And why does anyone care what the NRSC says?
@bill, he would have to care because with their support, raising funds would be difficult. what they should have done is allow both candidates to run against one another in the primary then back the winner. now, they’re trying to be king-maker and i don’t think fiorina has a chance against boxer. actually, i don’t elder has much a chance either but this is politics.
And the Republican Party just sent me a letter asking for a donation. I will not send them any money but I will send them a bit of my mind,which I really can’t spare. The Republican Party used to stand for less taxes, smaller government and more freedom . Today they against everything the American people stand for. The Constitution is just a piece of paper to these corrupt politicians. WE deserve better, but then who voted these idiots into office?
I’m only vaguely familiar with Elder and Fiorina and on the few occasions that I’ve seen her, she has left me unimpressed.
If I were from California I would have been screaming for TERM LIMITS long ago – Boxer has been there far too long. Boxer’s infamously boorish treatment of Brigadier General Michael Walsh and Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice during their respective appearances at the invitation of the Senate was an embarrassment to the state of California and the U.S. Senate itself.
Frankly, I’d be rooting for Elder to run anyway just to show the dedication and independence that I would prefer in the person(s) representing me. As a non-resident of California, a defiant run against party orthodoxy ( and bad orthodoxy at that) might just encourage me to throw some cash his way (as long as TERM LIMITS were a central theme in his campaign).
Larry Elder would be an awesome senator! On the other hand, ANYONE but Boxer. I would love to see Larry run. A while back Dennis Prager came close to running as well; not sure why he decided it against it, but he would be good too.
California has now felt enough pain that it shouldn’t be too hard to finally vote out these worthless lefties who have destroyed our once beautiful state. I hate to admit that years ago, I actually voted for Boxer.
in washington state you can run as what you want, even without the support of the party you choose to represent. i say the guy should tell them to kiss off and run anyway.
Carly Fiorina all talk and no action??? Have you read her book?? Her whole premise at HP was change and she did well despite having to fight the family. But I do agree……anyone but Boxer.
@tfhr:
There was quite a build up for her when she came onto the McCain campaign, her last job failure was forgotten. Wasn’t she rumored to be in the running for VP?
I watched her occasional appearances on Cavuto and came to the conclusion that she was not much different than some of the other McCain campaign backrounders. She seemed a bit fickle, it was like a couple of kids cheating at test time, Cavuto funneling answers for her. Disappointing, Elders has always inspired me, guess he isn’t in the CA incrowd….too honest.
i’m no fan of larry elder but he is running into the same problem that we have here in chicago. the machine likes to pick their candidates and the folk with the independent streak are put out to pasture. its just a matter of grassroots democrats and republicans fighting for the candidates they want. and this is the reason i support public finance of campaigns. right now it’s a matter of who holds the purse strings.
Elder should run anyway – he can’t be accused of stealing votes from Firoina if they expect her to lose anyway
Sounds kiind of like what happened in NJ in the governor’s race…..
So somebody ‘splain at me again how it is the Republicans Are Going To Rise Again?
Fiorina could break a shot put.
Look what she did for Hewlett-Packard. Look what she did for the RNC last year.
The Democrats will be in control until they change the name to Socialist (or, more likely, Obamaist).
Or the Norks and Iran bomb us the rest of the way into the Stone Age. Or the Pleistocene.
Larry Elder, run my friend. With or without the Republican Party, we need to take back our country.
Boxer is a disgrace and a pompous ass.
You can count on my vote. My business is currently crippled, so I can’t offer financial support, but my fingers are nimble and I still have my keyboard. It is oiled up and sighted in for a 1,000 meters. I will campaign for you to the best of my abilities, but you need to run.
Any formula that kicks radical, left-leaning, extremist Boxer OUT is fine with me. Larry Elder would make a fine senator.
This is the same RNC that lost the entire government majority in the last 4 years, why do people actually think they now know what they are doing??
Forget them and make it a case in point when and/if Elders runs that he tried to get the Republican nomination and they turned him down. Show that he is part of the Old School Reagan Republicans who wouldn’t have spent the way they did the last 4 years.
Here we go again, McCain was the party choice and look where that went. Is the right decision ever going to made by these knuckleheads at Republican HQ? Meanwhile we all can watch the state continue to slide into a leftest abyss. At this rate we’ll get Gavin Newsom as Governor to seal the deal!
kj
Lets just say “the story that is circulating” is accurate (which I highly doubt). It does not say that Elder would do any better than Fiorina! I really doubt point #3 would be brought up by Cornyn or his people given that Boxer polls less that 50% which generally indicated the seat is in trouble. If not Fiorina, why not Chuck DeVore (who polls better against Boxer than Fiorina) who had the balls to put his hat in the ring when Elder backed down.
How about the PTB understand this:
I would rather have Boxer than Fiorina.
I want the people that are selling us down the river wear the label.
Truth in advertising, ya know?
Precisely why the idiot Republicans have to go too.
Hey Elder… tell the NRSC and Cornyn to kiss off! Run, Larry, RUN!
Here in Texa, Cornyn never responds to his constituents. If it is not too late, I say Larry should forget Cornyn and go for it.
The next time Cornyn is up for reelection, I will be looking at his opponents.
Wouldn’t it be interesting if Sarah Palin just happened to show up in Los Angeles and put some energy into the senate race there? It would be interesting to see which candidate she thinks is more aligned to the “Rogue” philosophy.
Larry Elder would have been awesome. The RINOS told him no. No wonder Sarah is “going rogue”. I suggest Larry do the same
I hate to say for once I agree with Mr. Sheldon. No Meg Whitman or Carly.
But at least the conservatives that frequent this blog are well aware of their shortcomings and won’t support them … as opposed to the Liberals that would prop up Ms. Boxer if she murdered someone. I would rather, as a CA conservative leave that boob Boxer in there until we get a real candidate. We need solid candidates and until we do, I am sending money out of state to solid conservative, young candidates. CA is a wasteland. We’ll be broke soon.
We don’t need rich, intellectuals to represent us.
Run Larry….get out there and get your feet wet. Ronald Reagan was discouraged from running against Gerald Ford for the Republican Presidential nomination — as we know, he did lose the nomination to Ford but came back in four years to win it all.
Get out there and shake hands…if you do not get the nomination this time around…Dianne Feinstein is up on the chopping block next.
Form a PAC, ask for our help, and go for it…
This is why I don’t give ANY funds to the NRSC or any national effort like this.
It is my firm belief that if we are to make the changes we want to see happen, we have to do it starting at the local level and we have to do it with grass roots efforts. And those efforts start with selecting candidates of OUR choosing, aka non professional politicians. The fact that the Republican Party is not supporting people like Alan West, Larry Elder and Marco Rubio speaks volumes to me and I am a lifelong Republican.
So my goal this election cycle is to support PRINCIPLED candidates – not a national entity who will spend my donation on whom THEY choose.
I am not under the illusion that anybody reads then, but ever “survey” (AKA beg for money) gets “No More RINO’s” written in for every “question”, and in every blank where I am supposed to write billing info.
NO more RINOs!
I agree with the others here that THIS is the problem with the RNC. Until this kind of insider/gamesmanship ends, there are a lot of us conservatives out here that prefer anything to the dem libtards, BUT some conservative candidates are surely being shooed to the sidelines for more party-machine picks and that’s what the Tea-party movement is sick and tired of.
Run principled candidates who believe in a sacrosanct constitution and a minimalist federal government…. with states power restored. We’ll handle the rest at the state level.
Larry Sheldon – I like that one.
I’ll be doing that too, if I ever get anything from the NRSC/RNC.
The Republican party can go piss up a rope, along with the DemocRats.
Hint: If you want to win, elect Conservatives, running on Conservative principles.
Until then – FOAD
Larry Elder is like Marco Rubbio in Fl. The sleaze bag Crist was chosen by the RSNC over Marco but he is running anyway. I live in Ga. but sent him $100 anyway. You are right f**k the RNSC. Marco is gaining on Crist and there is rising hope that there will be a change!
Kinda off topic, but Tom in Canada….hmmm …probably not, probably Tom in California, said “I hate to say for once I agree with Mr. Sheldon. ”
Have I given offense?
I apologize, but I’d like to know why the “hate”.
Off-line via email is OK–my name less the blank and Cox’s network provides my email
Larry, You have so much support out here. Please listen to your fans and consider running for Senate. You will be the cure for what ails this state….and our country.
The repubs are BRAIN DEAD….. look at New York this week….. backed a LOSER who then turned TURNCOAT!!!! They couldn’t pick a good movie, let alone a POWERFUL CANDIDATE !!!!! Time to move em out, or MOVE ON!! Time is running SHORT on choosing WHICH!!