Meg Whitman's operatives are saying they are reopening their lead over Steve Poizner, and pointed to a new poll to prove it.
But the poll in question isn't always the most accurate, other pollsters say.
"Two weeks ago, Steve Poizner's campaign was touting a SurveyUSA poll showing that the race between Poizner and Whitman was a statistical dead heat. But the latest poll has some not-so-good news for the Poizner campaign. The latest from SurveyUSA shows Whitman reopening her lead to 27 points with a 54%-27% advantage over Poizner -- a wild swing of 25 points in less than two weeks that has raised suspicion among other pollsters.
"SurveyUSA's results show far fewer undecided voters than PPIC or the Daily Kos poll. PPIC showed 31% of likely Republican voters still undecided. The Daily Kos poll, conducted three days after the PPIC survey finished, showed 18% undecided.
"But SurveyUSA's methods vary slightly from some other well-established polls. Unlike other polls, SurveyUSA exclusively uses automated calls, known as "robocalls" to contact voters. Those call lists, by law, must exclude cellphone users because federal law prohibits unsolicited robocalls to cellphones. The poll also uses a random-digit dialing method and identifies likely voters based on the response of those being surveyed. Other polls, such as the Field Poll, use voter file information to determine likely voters."
Steve Harmon reports, "Mike Murphy said that a number of factors have turned the momentum around. First, Democrats’ attacks on Whitman have backfired. “Republicans are starting to understand that Jerry Brown is doing everything he can to help Steve Poizner. That’s the wrong kind of endorsement.”
Murphy said he is convinced that the much-maligned ad of Whitman speaking directly to the camera and complaining about Poizner’s attacks worked.
With just two weeks before Election Day, conservative groups are stepping up their attacks against Tom Campbell.
Maeve Reston reports, "Three outside groups are stepping into the GOP race
to try to drive home
the message that the former congressman's views on
same-sex marriage
and abortion rights — he favors both — and on gun rights, where he
favors some restrictions, are at odds with the voters
who will decide
the party's nominee June 8.
"Campbell's argument has been that as a fiscal conservative
and social
moderate he is more in line with California voters
than his two
opponents, former Hewlett-Packard chief Carly Fiorina and Orange County
Assemblyman Chuck DeVore. His positions make him the
stronger candidate
against Sen. Barbara Boxer, he argues.
"Conservative groups disagree, saying that the strongest
candidate for
Republicans will be one who can mobilize the party's
rank and file.
"This is a critical primary; whoever wins has a real shot at defeating
Barbara Boxer," said Brian Brown, executive director
of the National
Organization for Marriage, which opposes Campbell.
"The last thing that
we need is a Republican who is going against his own
party's platform."
Robin Abcarian looks at the lighter side of the U.S. Senate race.
The California State University is fighting the release of documents that would show how much Sarah Palin is being paid for an upcoming speech.
"University officials argue that the event is being hosted by the Cal State Stanislaus Foundation, a private, nonprofit entity that is not subject to the Public Records Act. The foundation has said that no public funds are being used for the event. Palin's contract also includes a confidentiality clause, they said.
"In papers filed Monday in Stanislaus County Superior Court, Cal State acknowledged that campus President Hamid Shirvani, Vice President of Advancement Susana Gajic-Bruyea and Business and Finance Vice President Russ Giambelluca are also officers of the foundation. But the three are under no obligation to disclose information obtained while acting as foundation officers, Cal State argues."
Pacific Gas & Electric has spent more than $44 million to pass Proposition 16 on the June ballot, reports CW's John Howard.
"In a statement to shareholders, the company noted earlier that the per-share cost could be 6 cents to 9 cents to finance the campaign, which translates into a total campaign price tag of $25 million to $35 million. The corporation had $1.22 billion in profits during 2009.
“This one-time item reflects
activities outside of PG&E’s regular utility operations and is
expected to impact
total GAAP earnings between $0.06 and $0.09 per share for the year,” the
company’s corporate arm said in a detailed Feb. 19 statement on its Web
site.
A number of local jurisdictions have sought to create publicly owned utilities in recent years. PG&E, often in opposition to the local districts, believes that it is better to try to resolve the issue in a single ballot measure, rather than fight the same battle again each time a local municipality seeks to create a new public-power authority."
The Wall St. Journal looks at how the Facebook privacy dust-up is impacting the attorney general's race.
"The social-networking service, which has nearly 500 million users, has come under criticism lately over privacy issues, including a glitch this month that gave users unintended access to their friends' private instant messages, and a new feature that lets the company share information about which websites users visit.
"Chris Kelly's opponents in the June 8 Democratic primary had generally avoided the Facebook privacy issue. But in a volley last week, San Francisco District Attorney Kamala Harris made clear she intended to make use of the fracas surrounding Mr. Kelly's former employer.
"In a statement released Thursday, the Harris campaign said that Mr. Kelly "must come clean with voters" about his role in devising privacy policies at Facebook."
And finally, looks like doggy surf season is here! AP reports, "Buddy, a Jack Russell terrier, who weighs about 15 pounds, has been surfing for 10 of his 12 years alongside owner Bruce Hooker, 53, from Ventura, California, usually hitting the waves three times a week and walking up to six miles daily to stay fit for the ocean.
"This Saturday he will be competing with about 60 other dogs in the fifth annual Loews Coronado Bay Resort Surf Dog competition in Imperial Beach which marks the start of the dog surfing season.
"He's really passionate about it. He sees this as a game and he wants to play. I'm sure he's ridden more waves than any other dogs," said Hooker, a salesman and lifelong surfer who serves as Buddy's coach and spotter.