A new Field Poll shows the race for governor is tied, four months before Election Day.
"The survey, conducted from June 22 to July 5, shows Brown with a 43% to
44% lead, well within the poll's margin of error.
In a statement released with the poll, Field Poll director
Mark
DiCamillo said, "About 4 in 10 likely voters now hold positive
impressions of each candidate, while about 4 in 10 others hold negative
views. The current findings represent a further sag
in voter attitudes
toward Brown, who possessed a two-to-one favorable image with voters
last year."
The survey also shows deeply divided opinions about
Whitman. 42% of
those surveyed said they had an unfavorable opinion
of the former EBay
chief executive, and 40% viewed her positively.
You can download
the poll here.
Michael Gardner reports Whitman's ads seem to be having an impact on how voters think of Brown.
“It’s the advertising giving voters pause,” Field Poll director Mark
DiCamillo said about Brown.
However, the poll shows voters also have increasingly
negative views
about Whitman, who engaged in a tough campaign for
the June 8 primary
election, which she won handily. In addition to attacking
each other,
both candidates criticized Brown, who had no serious
primary opposition.
Whitman has stepped up anti-Brown ads since the primary.
DiCamillo said Brown’s low-key campaign strategy so far isn’t
working.'The longer he waits, the greater jeopardy
he finds himself in,'
DiCamillo said."
<Director's Note: Cue Garry South...>
As Barbara Boxer begins a two-day swing through California to promote jobs, she took some shots at GOP rival Carly Fiorina.
Boxer was asked about Fiorina's quip that Boxer's hair
was "so yesterday." Maeve Reston takes it from there.
"Reporters have repeatedly asked Fiorina whether she
plans to apologize, but Boxer told reporters Tuesday that
she wasn’t waiting for her opponent's call and that the gaffe
just might
end up being a "turning point" for the campaign.While
Boxer
told several audiences during her barnstorming tour
of the state Tuesday
that the race was about "real things" -- not hairstyles -- she brought
up the gaffe again at an evening fundraiser for the
Democratic Party in
Santa Barbara.
“I’ve decided that if everyone in California, male
or female, who’s had a bad hair day votes for me, we’ll win in a
landslide. So I’m going for it,” she said to a roar of laughter from the
crowd. “I am going for the bad hair vote.”
Mike Villines is on the verge of victory in the Republican race for insurance commissioner.Shane
Goldmacher reports, "In the early vote count, former
Assembly GOP Leader Mike Villines of
Clovis trailed a political unknown, Department of Insurance
attorney
Brian FitzGerald, by 11,000 votes. But on Tuesday, Villines held a
13,474-vote lead, according to the unofficial tally kept by
the
secretary of state’s office."
We finally have an answer to the age-old question:
Which Came First, The Chicken or the Government Regulation?
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed legislation Tuesday
that would require all eggs sold inCalifornia to come
from hens that are not crammed into cages.
The LAT's Robert Lopez reports, all eggs sold in Californiia
must "come from hens able to stand up, fully extend
their limbs, lie
down and fully extend their wings without touching
each other or the
sides of cages.
The new regulations comply with the standards outlined
in Proposition 2, which was approved overwhelmingly by
voters in 2008. The measure, which captivated
animal welfare advocates, was
championed by the Humane Society of the United States
as a way to
protect hens and improve food safety for consumers."
From our Saving Face Files, PG&E has decided they now heart AB 32.
The Bee's Ray Daysog reports, "Pacific Gas and Electric
Co. on Tuesday said it will oppose the
November ballot initiative, which seeks to suspend
Assembly Bill 32, a
law that mandates statewide reductions in greenhouse
gas emissions to
1990 levels by 2020.
PG&E joins corporations such as Levi
Strauss and Co. and eBay Inc. in opposing the rollback."Studies
show that unchecked climate growth could cost California's
economy alone tens of billions of dollars a year in
losses to
agriculture, tourism and other sectors," said Peter
Darbee, PG&E's
chairman and CEO.
"Thoughtful and balanced implementation of AB 32
is one of the most important opportunities we have
to avoid this costly
outcome while spurring new clean-tech investment, innovation and job
creation in California."
Let's see if they pony up to save AB 32 the way they pushed for Proposition 16.
And finally, from our Money Laundering Files, our Zimbabwe bureau reports, "Low-denomination U.S bank notes change hands until they fall
apart here in Africa,
and the bills are routinely carried in underwear and
shoes through
crime-ridden slums.
"Some have become almost too smelly to handle, so Zimbabweans have taken
to putting their $1 bills
through the spin cycle
and hanging them up to dry with clothes pins alongside
sheets and items
of clothing.
It's the best solution — apart from rubber gloves or disinfectant wipes — in a continent where the U.S.
dollar has long been the currency of choice and where
the lifespan of a
dollar far
exceeds what the U.S. Federal Reserve intends. Zimbabweans
say the U.S. notes do best with gentle
hand-washing in warm water. But at a laundry and dry cleaner in eastern Harare, a machine cycle
does little harm either to the cotton-weave type of paper. Locals say
chemical "dry cleaning" is not recommended — it fades the color of the
famed greenback."
