John McCain in California Today

Republican presidential candidate, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., gives a thumbs up as he drinks a coffee at Cafe Versailles on Tuesday, May 20, 2008, in Miami.

Senator John McCain, the presumptive GOP nominee for President has a one day swing through California which began last night with a fundraising event in Orange County.

Today there are stops planned in Union City and Stockton in Northern California.

While in the Bay area, McCain will attend a fundraising luncheon sponsored by ex-e-Bay CEO, Meg Whitman, a former Mitt Romney national fundriaisng chairwoman and aspiring 2012 California Governor candidate.

As McCain moves on to Stockton, he picks up the campaign dollars by attending an event at the home of GOP donor Alex Spanos.

McCain arrives in California today a definite underdog to presumptive Democrat nominee Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. The latest PPIC poll (page 10 here) has :

If the general election were held today, likely voters would favor Obama over McCain by 17 points (54% to 37%), an improvement for Obama since March (49% to 40%). Likely voters favor Clinton over McCain by 12 points (51% to 39%), an improvement for her also since March (46% to 43%).

Flap has seen little excitement among California conservatives for the McCain campaign. McCain is a buddy of California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger who has mismanaged California’s budget, is proposing a disfavored lottery redistribution plan/tax increase and has talked about rebranding the GOP.

Team McCain will come to California to raise the big bucks from the high tech companies and defense contractors who have an interest in preserving good relations with the GOP in the federal government. But, don’t look for McCain to put ANY effort into winning California in the fall. California is a blue state and will not be in play for McCain.