links for 2010-01-30

With the release of new Field and PPIC polls in the last week showing former eBay executive Meg Whitman opening up a potentially commanding lead over Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner in the race for the GOP nomination for governor, there is a natural tendency among some observers to assume the race is all but over.

Among them are people with relatively short memories.

The last time there was a contested GOP primary for governor — in 2002 — former Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan held an even larger lead in the polls in January, which at the time was much closer to Election Day (the primary was in March instead of June back then).

Here are the numbers from the Jan. 29, 2002 Field Poll: Riordan 46 percent, Bill Simon 13 percent, Bill Jones 13 percent. That's a 33-point lead. The Jan. 25, 2010 Field Poll shows Whitman at 45 percent and Poizner at 17 percent, a 28-point lead, with a lot more undecideds than there were in January '02.
+++++
Indeed. $20 million buys alot of love

Sarah PAC, the political action committee of former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, collected $1.4 million over the final six months of 2009, a solid — if not spectacular — total that demonstrates her fundraising capacity as she mulls a bid for national office in 2012.

"We are thrilled," said Palin senior adviser Meg Stapleton about the fundraising total. "Common sense Americans know the direction we need to take this country and that Sarah Palin will be instrumental in taking us there this year."

For the year, Palin raised roughly $2.1 million through Sarah PAC and ended the year with $900,000 in the bank. She donated $64,600 to candidates and party committees.
++++++
Now, to whom will go the spoils?

The trial of 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheik Mohammed won't be held in lower Manhattan and could take place in a military tribunal at Guantanamo Bay, sources said last night.

Administration officials said that no final decision had been made but that officials of the Department of Justice and the White House were working feverishly to find a venue that would be less expensive and less of a security risk than New York City.

The back-to-the-future Gitmo option was reported yesterday by Fox News and was not disputed by White House officials.
++++++++
I thought Obama said to close Gitmo?

What a joke.

A top Senate Democrat on Friday stressed that jobs and economic recovery, not healthcare reform, should have been the president's top priority last year.

While Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.) described President Barack Obama's focus on healthcare as "very important," he said the timing of Obama's legislative push ultimately "wasn't good."

The North Dakota senator later added Obama should have pursued an agenda that was "all economy, all the time [and] all jobs, all the time" in order to "repair this economy and put people back to work" more quickly.
+++++++
Well, duh.

and, this is why some many Congressional Dems are in jepardy for re-election.

From our You Never Know Until You Ask Files, Carly Fiorina got a most unexpected e-mail from Bay Area venture capitalist William Oberndorf — an invitation to contribute money to her rival for the state's Republican U.S. Senate nomination, former U.S. Rep. Tom Campbell.

Oberndorf is the finance chairman of Campbell’s campaign, but he apparently didn’t bother to carefully scrub the campaign e-mail list closely before asking for donations.

The Oberndorf solicitation, with the subject line “Exciting Opportunity for CA in the U.S. Senate,” was part of a bulk e-mail request from Campbell’s campaign.

Campbell “is a tried-and-true fiscal conservative who understands the perils of deficit spending. He is also a social moderate who supports such issues as the right of women to choose,” the e-mail says.

Speaking of Campbell’s fundraising, Campbell has brought on Kristin Hueter, who heads gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman’s Bay Area fundraising, to help raise money for his campaign
+++
Oops