Meg Whitman took to the air with a multi-million dollar ad buy, while the Demon Sheep spot continues
to go viral. And that's the kind of week it was in
California politics.
John Myers and I wrap up the most entertaining week in California politics that
any of us can remember in quite some time in this week's podcast.
It all ended with Meg Whitman making a huge television ad buy, the first of the 2010 gubernatorial race.
"A statewide media buyer, contacted by PolitiCal and
not affiliated
with the campaign, confirmed the Whitman campaign had
booked time to
begin airing Friday. Over the next week, Whitman will be spending $1
million on ads in the Los Angeles TV market alone.
Whitman's
L.A. campaign
will run between Feb. 5 and Feb. 14. She will spend an
additional $300,000 in the San Francisco media market, and $100,000 on
ads in Fresno, according to the media buyer. The 60-second ad rails
against "professional politicians" and features
Whitman touting her "business perspective."
"Whitman's campaign refused to offer details about
how much they would be spending on the initial round
of advertising."
Meanwhile, Mark Barabak catches up with Demon Sheep creator Fred Davis to talk about the now-famous Internet ad.
"Fred Davis -- the man who introduced vermin, Paris Hilton, bad hair
and now demonic mutton into our political discourse -- is a bit taken aback by the reaction to his latest
creation.
“More sheep in my day than I was expecting,” he said after sorting
through messages from reporters across the country,
all of them wanting
to talk about the online video -- an instant cult classic -- he created
for Republican U.S. Senate hopeful Carly Fiorina. “You certainly never know what’s going to catch on.”
And he answers the question the world's been dying
to know.
"For the record, the role of the stealth sheep was
placed by a nameless
crew member. “Not a professional sheep impersonator,” Davis said, “or
anything like that.”
There's one mystery solved...
Seema Mehta looks at Carly Fiorina's appearance on John and Ken, complete with a surprise caller.
"A routine interview on KFI-AM [640] with Republican Senate candidate
Carly Fiorina turned tense this afternoon when hosts
John and Ken
announced they had a caller who wanted to ask Fiorina
a question.
Guess who it was? Orange County Assemblyman Chuck DeVore, also a
candidate for the GOP nomination to unseat incumbent
Sen. Barbara
Boxer. John and Ken are known to be fans of DeVore,
and said he could
ask a clearly surprised Fiorina one question."
Hillarity ensues....
Gov. Schwarzenegger's got a new tool to get the state out of its budget jam -- billboard advertising. Kevin Yamamura reports, "
In
his latest effort to patch California's cash-strapped budget, Gov.
Arnold Schwarzenegger has resurrected an idea to convert
overhead
freeway displays into electronic advertising billboards.
Under
the plan, a billboard company would replace existing
digital displays
that show abduction-related Amber Alerts and traffic updates with
sophisticated color screens that also show advertising.
The state
currently operates 708 electronic boards on highways.
"The
proposal faces significant hurdles, particularly obtaining
a U.S.
Department of Transportation waiver of federal highway
regulations. The
governor sees the plan as a way to generate revenue
and improve the
technology of the warning signs, but critics fear the
new signs would
distract drivers and lead to more accidents."
Ah, screwed by the Feds again...
By the way, sports fans, be sure to mark your calendars
next week, as Abel Maldonado confirmation hearings
continue, and the Assembly and Senate prepare to take
up some kind of mid-year round of budget cuts and/or revenue plan. Don't ask for details, because both
Assembly and Senate soures say it's super-duper-top secret. God forbid we hash out any of these billion-dollar ideas in public...
And finally, from our That's Gratitude For Ya Files, AP reports, "A Slovenian who saved his three dogs
from being put down for
attacking humans was himself mauled to death by them,
police said
Wednesday. Four years ago, the three bullmastiffs attacked
and seriously injured a
passer-by outside their owner's house. They spent years in
custody
pending legal hearings, but when one of them attacked
a dog handler,
authorities ordered them to be put down.
"Their owner, a doctor, succeeded last June in his
legal appeals to get
the dogs back, sparking a national controversy. After
his death, an
opposition party said the agriculture minister should
resign for
failing to stop the dogs from being released."
