Usually when you come out with a campaign book, they tend to be banal. And they certainly don’t try to attack anybody. But Steve Poizner has always been something of a wild card, so why not call students at the school that he taught kinda slow? Here’s what he said about students at Mt. Pleasant High School
From an intellectual standpoint, I absolutely know not to expect Silicon Valley-type caliber ambition and smarts from East San Jose schoolkids.
This is offensive in the extreme, and a rookie political move. Look, money, and the good fortune of running against Cruz Bustamante have made him a formidable candidate, even with those poll numbers showing a huge deficit to Meg Whitman. But, sometimes you have to marvel that he could get to where he is while saying some Bell Curve-y nonsense.
Poizner needs to apologize to these students, and to the entire community. America is supposed to be about the promise of tomorrow and upward mobility. Poizner seems more interested in knocking those at the bottom rungs of the social strata off the ladder completely.
Those sentiments are very, very widely shared among California Republicans. I have heard almost exactly the same things said of students at schools in Santa Ana, a predominantly Latino area as is East San Jose, by plenty of Orange County Republicans over the last 20 years.
Poizner was stupid enough to put it in a book, instead of leaving it to the living rooms and hotel meeting rooms as California Republicans usually do.
What this remark really tells us is that Poizner was a lousy teacher. Fortunately he left, as many unmotivated ones do, and went into business. Yes, he should apologize, but this comment is part of his immigrant bashing agenda.
East San Jose is a vital immigrant community- with lots of committed teachers- they, and their students, will survive being trashed by Poizner.