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And now, without futher ado, here's yesterday's news...
Meg Whitman may have given herself another $20 million check, but Jerry Brown has secret weapon -- the corpse of Corey Haim.
"You might think Atty. Gen. Jerry Brown thinks the death of Corey Haim is an issue in the race for governor. While Republicans trade volleys on the campaign trail, Brown has kept himself busy doing his day job as attorney general, and getting his face on television -- a lot. And in the wake of Haim's death from an overdose of prescription pills, Brown has been aggressively touting the dangers of prescription drugs -- even making an appearance on the Dr. Phil show to make his case.
"On Tuesday, Brown held another press conference on the topic, announcing that in the last month of his life, "Haim visited seven different doctors and seven different pharmacies to obtain at least 553 doses of prescription drugs, including dangerous narcotics."
"A statement from Brown's office says Brown has been "at the forefront of efforts to crack down on prescription-drug abuse and those criminals who profit from it." And he's got the press clips to prove it."
Hey, gotta keep yourself on TV somehow, right?
Speaking of television buys, the Chamber of Commerce launched a new ad with an estimated $1.5 million initial ad buy. But don't call it an anti-Jerry Brown ad, whatever you do.
"The California Chamber of Commerce wants to make sure you understand its new TV ad launched Tuesday is not anti-Jerry Brown. If it were, it would require the Chamber to go through an entire host of cumbersome obstacles -- like telling the public how much they're spending on their new ad and playing by a rather pesky set of disclosure rules.
"Chamber spokeswoman Denise Davis says the new spot is part of the chamber's effort to "educate California voters on jobs, the economy taxes and spending."
"So even though the ad says that Brown "turned a budget surplus into a massive deficit," please don't misconstrue the spot as a hit on the California attorney general who's running for governor. Davis said the ad began airing Tuesday morning, but refused to discuss the details or the depth of the ad buy. She said "it will cost millions to educate California on these issues. We have a budget to do that."
"But when asked if that meant the chamber was in fact prepared to spend millions against Brown, er, on this "education c"ampaign," she stuck to her carefully parsed statement."
Shane Goldmacher reports another high-ranking Schwarzenegger official is skipping town. "Herb Schultz, a senior adviser to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and the man charged with ensuring California gets its fair share of federal stimulus funds, is leaving the administration to become a regional director of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Schultz first joined the Schwarzenegger administration in late 2006, as a healthcare advisor leading up to the governor's efforts in his 2007 "year of healthcare reform."
A new poll finds Californians like their non-existent greenhouse-gas law. Dale Kesslar reports, "The state's controversial global warming law still has the support of a majority of Californians despite growing doubts about its potential impact on the economy, according to a Field Poll released Tuesday. The poll shows 58 percent of registered voters support Assembly Bill 32, which will require significant reductions in greenhouse-gas emissions. The poll was commissioned by Next 10, a San Francisco nonprofit group that supports green technology and reducing gases blamed for global warming."
Speaking of old news, Jack Chang looks at the GOP immigration debate. Excuse us while we grab a pillow. "
Republican candidates have responded by staking out tough positions on the subject, and Whitman rival Steve Poizner, in particular, has built much of his campaign on pledging to cut state services for all illegal immigrants.
"My view is we should not have any magnets left," Poizner said last month at the state Republican convention. "We should turn off all incentives. We should end all taxpayer benefits for people here illegally."
That illegal immigration has stayed in the spotlight 16 years after state voters voted to do exactly what Poizner was suggesting wasn't a surprise for Jon Fleischman, who's the vice chairman of the state GOP's southern branch and a popular blogger."
Joe Garofoli reports the Hahn-Newsom fight is getting nastier. "SF Mayor Gavin Newsom trotted out a big gun Tuesday with his Sen. Dianne Feinstein endorsement (no, no, don't stop the presses, that was expected). Strong stuff, nonetheless.
"But LA City Council member Janice Hahn swung back Tuesday with a poll (from yes, her in-house pollster) saying that it found that that "Democratic Primary voters recognize that nominating Gavin Newsom, another San Francisco-based white male, will not help Jerry Brown win the gubernatorial election."
But wait, isn't Jerry Brown a ... oh, never mind...