Neel Kashkari, who was in charge of the government's Troubled Asset Relief Program, has visited 80 communities in the Golden State as he explores his bid for political office. And he's vowing to be a different kind of Republican in a deep-blue state where the GOP has struck out in recent years.
"My focus is different from most candidates that we've seen, not just in California but around the country," Kashkari told the San Francisco Chronicle in what's billed as his first major interview.
Kashkari was an assistant Treasury secretary in George W. Bush's administration when his office set up the program to buy troubled assets from financial firms. The former Goldman Sachs vice president stayed on the job at Treasury for a short while at the start of Obama's first term. He left in December 2009 to join Pimco, which manages the world's largest bond fund.
Kashkari, 40, has been getting advice from former secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and two ex-governors — Florida's Jeb Bush and Indiana's Mitch Daniels — about his political aspirations. He supports abortion rights and same-sex marriage and voted for President Obama in 2008, according to the Chronicle.
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California Gov. Jerry Brown, a Democrat, is up for re-election in 2014. A recent poll by USC/Los Angeles Times showed less than one-third of California voters, or 32%, would support Brown's re-election next year.
If Kashkari does jump into the governor's race, he'd have to get past a Republican primary field that includes veteran pols such as Abel Maldonado, a former lieutenant governor.
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