Carly Fiorina tacks to the right, Meg Whitman moves to the center as the Republican contenders scurry for votes.
The LAT's Maeve Reston and Seema Mehta report: "Whitman is following the well-tested route of Republican candidates who have succeeded statewide in California. After stressing her conservatism in the primary, she softened her rhetoric and began emphasizing her moderate stances to appeal to independents."
"Fiorina has chosen a riskier strategy. She has stood
firm on the conservative positions she staked out in
the primary, betting that Republicans' enthusiasm this
year will help overcome Democrats' registration advantage
and that swing voters will overlook the areas where
her views are out of sync with theirs."
State Capitol workers have got a good deal going with Arco Arena, courtesy of BP, reports Rick Daysog of the Sacramento Bee.
"Since 2000, Arco's parent company has lavished more than $430,000 in the form of free tickets to basketball games, concerts and other arena events on lawmakers, their staff members and relatives, according to a Bee review of lobbyist disclosures by BP."
"Kings tickets – nearly 1,900 carrying a value of more than $300,000 – were the perk of choice. BP also doled out more than $72,000 in free concert passes to Capitol employees during the past decade for acts including the Eagles, Elton John, Rihanna and Britney Spears."
Meanwhile, GOP gubernatorial contender Meg Whitman declined to discuss the comment made by a Brown campaign associate who called her a "whore" in an inadvertently recorded conversation.
"“It’s a slur and I’m not going to dignify it with a response,” said Whitman, after speaking to hundreds of supporters at a Van Nuys rally with former New York City Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani..."
"Whitman’s campaign aides have been blasting Brown over the matter, calling it offensive to all women, but Whitman had so far refused to weigh in. Until news of the comment broke, Whitman had been under siege for more than a week over the revelation that she had employed an illegal immigrant as a housekeeper for nine years.'
"The candidate demurred when asked if she had ever heard anyone associated with her campaign make an inappropriate comment and called for the media to focus on the state’s pressing concerns."
The Times' George Skelton takes a look at Proposition 19, the marijuana legalization initiative, and doesn't even bother to inhale.
""We can become an even bigger laughingstock to the nation. It was tempting here to write again about the Capitol's broken governing system that resulted in another bumbling, bleary-eyed, all-night legislative session needed to pass a 100-day-late budget Friday."
"But there's little left to say about this never-ending clown act. Besides, the adopted budget wasn't all that important. The hard decisions were left for the next governor and Legislature. Prop. 19 is more interesting and would have a greater long-term impact on California."
Speaking of the budget, Gov. Schwarzenegger came in for some heat over the weekend for deep vetoes in the just-approved state spending plan.
From HealthyCal's Dan Weintraub: "In most cases, the governor explained his line-item vetoes with boilerplate language saying the cuts were necessary to “help bring ongoing expenditures in line with existing resources and to build a prudent reserve.” In some cases Schwarzenegger pointed out that alternative funding might be available to blunt the effect of his reductions, or suggested that California will seek federal money to offset the loss of state dollars..."
"Sarah Jimenez, communications director for the County Welfare Directors Association, released a statement from the group calling Schwarzenegger a “hypocrite.” She noted that just last week, the governor signed Assembly Bill 12, a bill extending services to youth in foster care until age 21, and spoke about his commitment to children."
Finally, from our "Don't Be Cruel" file, comes the litany of mean things that women do to men. They do some good stuff, too, of course, but that's a different list and more fun to read..
"You're all ready to go for a night out with your friends, when your girlfriend calls and asks you to change your plans to be with her instead. She doesn't have any particular reason; she just wants to see you. She knows that you had plans to meet up with the guys, but if you really loved her, you'd come over to her place instead. If her request comes with an "if you really loved me," then it's a test. If you choose anything other than immediately rushing to her side, you're going to fail. This kind of testing in a relationship is indeed cruel and petty. "
"Flirting: Maybe she's feeling underappreciated, maybe you've just had a big fight or maybe she just enjoys the tortured look on your face. For whatever reason, girls who flirt obviously with other guys in front of their boyfriends are immature and manipulative."
It's tough being a sensitive, caring male...