links for 2009-11-04

The Los Angeles Times and the University of Southern California announced today that they will co-sponsor six statewide public opinion polls leading up to the 2010 election.

"In a state as large and diverse as California, accurate and timely polling is a key tool to allow people to learn what their fellow Californians think about major issues. Making that sort of information available is a central part of our journalistic mission," Times editor Russ Stanton said in a statement.

The polls, which will ask Californians about a variety of political, social and cultural issues, will be released over the next 14 months. Professors from the USC Department of Political Science will work with the Times on the project, and discussions on methodology and analysis of the poll results will be incorporated into graduate and undergraduate classes at USC, according to a press release.

The results of the first poll are set to be released in Sunday's Los Angeles Times.

State AG Jerry Brown told reporters Tuesday that — though he's not yet ready officially to declare his 2010 gubernatorial candidacy — his wife, attorney Anne Gust, is already interviewing staffers for key positions.

His Democratic campaign, he said, "would be a collaborative undertaking with a number of people offering their services as citizens — as opposed to paid consultants."

But the Brown preparations haven't stopped the gossip about the longshot possibility that other Dems could still make this interesting — and get into the race.

Chief among the names mentioned: former CA Assembly Speaker Bob Hertzberg.

Today is going to be a big day for Carly Fiorina. The former Chief Executive Officer of Hewlett Packard from 1999 through 2005 will make it official that she is a candidate for the Republican nomination for the United States Senate. Her goal is to retire the ultra-liberal and ineffective incumbent, Barbara Boxer, next November.

This is what motivates me to run for the U.S. Senate. And so today I am announcing my candidacy to serve the people of California as your next U.S. senator.

Throughout my career I've brought people together, and I've solved problems. And that is what is needed in our government today. People who are willing to set aside ego and partisanship and instead work to develop solutions to our problems.

Our most pressing problems today are too few jobs for Americans and too much spending in Washington. As California's senator, economic recovery and fiscal accountability will be my priorities. I will not settle for a jobless recovery. And we can start the important work of getting our financial house back in order by demanding to know where our money is being spent. Let's put every government budget and every government bill on the Internet for every citizen to see.

The Republican gubernatorial candidate in California has spent $19 million so far, with the election still seven months away. Her pace is called 'unprecedented' by one campaign veteran.
Whitman's pace is "unprecedented spending for a California gubernatorial race," said Jude Barry, campaign manager for the last mega-rich candidate to run for governor, Steve Westly.

She spent almost as much on chartered jets ($111,706) as Campbell spent in total ($147,030) from January through June, the latest financial reporting period. Her Internet operation cost nearly $1 million. "Nowhere near that has been spent in the past in any campaign that I've ever seen," veteran GOP consultant Richard Temple said of Whitman's Web platform.

The Poizner campaign, in comparison, spent $106,000 on technology.

After months of hints and trial balloons, one of Silicon Valley's most recognizable and controversial figures has finally decided to take the plunge into politics, and California could be in for a roller-coaster ride of a political race over the next year.

Republican Carly Fiorina, the dynamic former CEO of Hewlett-Packard, is expected to launch her bid for the U.S. Senate this week, possibly at an appearance today in Orange County. Assuming she wins the primary, political analysts say she could give three-term Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer the run of her life.

A Fiorina-Boxer race would offer no shortage of rich story lines — corporate heavyweight vs. Washington insider, a woman recovering from breast cancer vs. one known for women's issues, an aggressive business executive vs. a combative politician.