"Trailing
both in the polls and the race to raise campaign cash,
Insurance
Commissioner
Steve Poizner will inject $15 million of his personal
wealth into his effort to become California's next
Republican governor,
his campaign spokesman said Sunday.
"The contribution by the
Silicon Valley entrepreneur, to be completed this month,
will mean
Poizner will have spent $19.2 million this year on his campaign,
spokesman Jarrod Agen said. Poizner, in poll after
poll, has found
himself mired in third place, behind front-runner Meg Whitman, the
billionaire former eBay CEO and Tom Campbell, a former
Silicon Valley
congressman.
"Poizner's decision comes after a
renewed effort to raise money from outside contributors.
But that
effort has faced tough sledding. A goal to net $50,000 in the month of
December had generated just shy of $13,000, his campaign's Web site
reported as of Sunday night."
Carla Marinucci reports on California in the national GOP crosshairs. "In blue-leaning California, the dangers for
Democrats are becoming evident as the GOP works to
fire up voters with
issues like budget deficits, health care reform and
the costs of
curbing global warming.
"California is ground zero for many of these debates
because the
problems are bigger and more outside than just about
anywhere else,"
says Andrew Moylan, director of government affairs
for the National
Taxpayers Union in Washington, which plans to underscore
the
conservative message on issues like health care, the
deficit and
spending.
Democrats, who control both houses of the state Legislature,
"have
dramatically increased spending," Moylan added, "and
of course they're
having to pay the piper."
Well, they would pay the piper, but there's no money
in the general fund to make the payment...
And one of the main targets will be Barbara Boxer.
"Sen. Barbara Boxer of California is in the Republicans'
crosshairs in next year's election, targeted as one
of Congress' most
liberal and partisan Democrats as the party swept from
power looks to
make a comeback, bolstered by anti-incumbency sentiment and wariness of
the nation's rising debt," Drew Joseph reports.
"The attacks on Boxer began in recent weeks, shortly
after former
Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina announced her campaign for the
three-term senator's seat. Fiorina, 55, says Boxer, 69, has lost touch
with California voters and has not accomplished anything
of note in 17
years on Capitol Hill."
While the GOP may be focusing on California, the Washington
Post reports on inter-GOP strife in the state. The failed Anthony Adams recall goes big time.
"A Republican hasn't carried the state in a presidential
contest since 1988. The last time a California GOP
candidate won a U.S. Senate election was in the same
decade. Nowadays,
Republicans' share of the state's registered voters
has shrunk to 31
percent, a historic low.
"There are large parts of the state where the party
is irrelevant,"
said Allan Hoffenblum, a well-known California political analyst who
has been a campaign manager for Republicans in the
state. "It's not
even a statewide party, really."
But everyone can agree on one thing: politicians = bad. Jack Chang elaborates.
"With a record low number of Californians – 13 percent –
giving the Legislature their approval in the latest
Field Poll, next
year's elections promise to be shaped by such public
anger.
Expect
candidates, even incumbents, to run against Sacramento
or at least
delete any mention of their work there, political consultants
from both
major parties said.
"Without question, this is the kind of
environment where incumbents are at risk on both sides,"
said Ray
McNally, a Republican strategist. "No politician is safe when
the
environment becomes this poisonous.
Whoa, whoa. McNally's a Republican strategist?
The Chron's Marissa Lagos looks at the road ahead for John Perez.
"The question isn't just, 'Can you be a leader?' but,
'Is there
anything left to lead?' " said Bill Bagley, a Republican who served in
the Assembly from 1960 to 1974.
"In recent years, crippling budget woes haven't left
any of the
state's lawmakers the time - or money - to fight for many of the causes
that brought them to Sacramento. And for legislative
leaders, the
sacrifice is greater: In addition to the governor, the Senate president
pro tem and Assembly speaker ultimately are the faces
of painful and
unpopular decisions. The current speaker, Karen Bass,
has spent her
short, 20-month tenure as the body's leader working to stave
off or
minimize budget cuts - not focusing on the issues that she campaigned
on, such as health care and advocating for foster youths."
And finally, are cigarette warning labels killing smokers? A group of psychologists think so.
"Cigarette pack
warnings that remind smokers of the fatal consequences
of their habit
may actually make them smoke more as a way to cope
with the
inevitability of death, according to researchers.
"A small study by psychologists from the United States,
Switzerland and
Germany showed that warnings unrelated to death, such
as "smoking makes
you unattractive" or "smoking brings you and the people
around you
severe damage," were more effective in changing smokers'
attitudes
toward their habit.
"This was especially the case in people who smoked
to boost their
self-esteem, such as youth who took up the habit to impress
or fit in
with their peers and others who thought smoking increased
their social
value, the researchers said."
