Slim pickins

Cathleen Decker says California is out of cash, and good leaders.

"The relative silence of most of the candidates who wish to lead California out of its canyon of deficits is all the more striking given what else was going on in California last week. The one-time gem of the state, its university system, was taking another hit.

Standing apart from the pack, as usual, was Republican candidate Tom Campbell, who has talked of nothing but the state's budget woes as he mounts his long-shot campaign for governor."

Wyatt Buchanan cautions there are no easy outs this time around.

"The new jaw-dropping deficit - projected through June 2011 - was released last week by the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst's Office only four months after legislators closed a $24 billion budget gap.

But with unemployment expected to remain high as the economy slowly turns around, officials fret they won't be able to pony up on time. And to prevent the fund's shortfall from ballooning even further in the next two years, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and the Legislature face a nettlesome dilemma: Cut back on benefits, raise taxes on employers or do both."

Matier and Ross help Jerry Brown paddle toward the center, free of his Democratic primary. In today's edition, the column notes Brown's support for gun owners .

"It may come as a surprise to many of his Democratic supporters, but Attorney General and gubernatorial hopeful Jerry Brown has gone to bat for the National Rifle Association.

"The NRA's cause: urging the U.S. Supreme Court to guarantee the ability of gun owners across the land to keep and bear arms.

Last year, the high court struck down a ban on handguns in Washington, D.C., ruling for the first time that the Second Amendment's right to bear arms applies to individuals who keep a gun at home for self-defense. But the court made it clear the ruling applied only to the District of Columbia, a federal enclave."

M&R also report that Carole Migden will not run for San Francisco Supervisor next year...

But it looks like you'll still have Gavin Newsom to kick around. Stu Woo reports, " "I plan on being in politics for the long haul," Mr. Newsom said in an interview Friday evening. Mr. Newsom "has been reflecting on many things over the past few weeks, including how best to move San Francisco forward over the next two years, what he wants to do after he leaves office, and the best role for him in politics and public life," Mr. Arellano wrote in an email Sunday. "He's not ruling out a future run for office. He's using this time to take an all-encompassing look at his future, which is normal now that he has the time to do it."

And finally, from our Is Tie Me Kangaroo Down Files, AP reports, "A kangaroo startled by a man walking his dog attacked the pair, pinning the pet underwater and slashing the owner in the abdomen with its hind legs.

The Australian, Chris Rickard, was in stable condition Monday after the attack, which ended when the 49-year-old elbowed the kangaroo in the throat. He said he was walking his blue heeler, Rocky, on Sunday morning when they surprised a sleeping kangaroo in Arthur's Creek northeast of Melbourne. The dog chased the animal into a pond, when the kangaroo turned and pinned the pet underwater.

"When Rickard tried to pull his dog free, the kangaroo turned on him, attacking with its hind legs and tearing a deep gash into his abdomen and across his face.

"I thought I might take a hit or two dragging the dog out from under his grip, but I didn't expect him to actually attack me," Rickard, 49, told The Herald Sun newspaper. "It was a shock at the start because it was a kangaroo, about 5 feet high, they don't go around killing people."