links for 2010-09-22

Whitman, who opposes same-sex marriage but supports civil unions, has said she believes the governor is legally bound to defend the law passed by voters and would appeal Walker's ruling. Cooley has also said he would defend Proposition 8.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Attorney General Jerry Brown both declined to join a challenge of the ruling.

The ads, which you can watch below, will run on cable news stations –CNN, FOX and MSNBC — in the Los Angeles, San Francisco, Sacramento, San Diego and Palm Springs markets, according to the group. They will begin airing next week.
++++++
I don't think these ads will benefit Whitman's and Cooley's opponents as much as stir up enthusiasm for social conservative voters to go to the polls.

Television advertising in California’s Senate race has been tame compared to the millions being spent in the governor’s race. But Republican Senate candidate Carly Fiorina is expected to air her first spots since the primary this week, according to several sources familiar with her latest ad purchase.

Fiorina’s Democratic opponent, Barbara Boxer, got a head start 10 days ago, first launching a positive spot and then, two days later, a scathing attack on Fiorina’s record as chief executive of Hewlett-Packard — a move that analysts saw as an indication of how close the race is.
+++++++
And, Carly will begin airing her ads this week with a $500-750K buy in the Los Angeles Market

A new SurveyUSA poll in New York finds Andrew Cuomo (D) leads Carl Paladino in the race for governor by just nine points, 49% to 40%.

The results are similar to a Quinnipiac poll released earlier today which found Paladino just six points behind Cuomo.
++++++
Oh My!

Democratic gubernatorial nominee Andrew Cuomo, who had led the GOP field by thirty points for most of the year, is now leading Republican rival Carl Paladino by just six points among likely voters, an astonishing new Quinnipiac University poll shows.

Among the most surprising numbers in the survey is that 49 percent of independents prefer Paladino, compared to 43 percent for Cuomo, an inverse of the topline number.

It's the first head-to-head of the general election, and Q's first likely-voter survey.The margin of error is 3.6 percent, and Rick Lazio, who is currently the Conservative Party nominee but whose intentions are unclear, was not included in the survey.
+++++++
Voters are extremely unhappy with status quo candidates

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid hoped the defense policy bill would help make a final pre-election argument for Democrats while energizing the base on gay rights and immigration.

But what he got was a failed vote and a mix of frustration and disappointment from the people he was trying to help. The stalled defense authorization bill — one of the last major Senate votes before November’s elections — was emblematic of the Nevada senator’s struggles to cut deals with the GOP while still pleasing core Democratic constituencies.

Gay rights groups were upset that the process Reid employed may have undermined progress in repealing the Pentagon’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy prohibiting gays from serving openly in the military.

Hispanic groups were disappointed that they couldn’t even get a vote on a narrow piece of comprehensive immigration reform — an amendment known as the DREAM Act that would have enabled citizenship for illegal immigrant students in exchange for military service.