When Rep. Joe Wilson famously shouted “You Lie!” at President Obama’s joint address to Congress on healthcare reform, the South Carolina Republican was able to parlay that classless utterance into hundreds of thousands of dollars for his re-election (his opponent was also able to raise tons of cash). Last December, Irvine Council member Steven Choi paraded around the Irvine Hilton with a photoshopped image of Nancy Pelosi as Stalin. Choi was unable to capitalize on this OC Joe Wilson moment.
Choi, a candidate for Assembly in the 70th district, reported anemic fundraising numbers in the last filing period, raising about $105,600, this $100,000 of that coming from a loan from himself. Choi used the Pelosi/Stalin controversy, a story we broke that was picked up by Crooks and Liars, SFGate and The Drudge Report, in an attempt to raise money. And while Choi got significant converage and multgiple comments in support of his action, this “support” didn’t translate into dough.
Choi was also a no-show at yesterday’s CRA endorsement meeting and garnered no votes; Don Wagner gained the endorsement and Tustin’s Jerry Amante, who has sinced scrubbed his website of his endorsement by disgraced former Rep. Mike Duvall, picked up only three votes for AD-70.