Capitol Alert

Former eBay CEO Meg Whitman will follow in the footsteps of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and decline her salary if she's elected governor, press secretary Sarah Pompei said today.

Whitman is worth about a billion dollars and is pouring millions into her gubernatorial campaign.

The current annual salary for governor is $212,179 and will fall to $173,987 assuming an 18 percent salary cut for state officials takes effect as approved by the California Citizens Compensation Commission.

Jon Waldie, chief administrative officer of the Assembly, and Greg Schmidt, chief executive officer of the Senate, have asked Attorney General Jerry Brown to look into whether the pay and benefit cuts were legally approved. Read about that request here.

GOP gubernatorial candidate Tom Campbell, a former congressman, said Friday he would accept a salary if elected. "How else would I eat?" Campbell said in a written statement.

The third Republican candidate Steve Poizner, the state insurance commissioner who also has about a billion dollars in personal wealth, will accept a salary with a possible pay cut, said communications director Jarrod Agen.

Republican gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman has built a sizable lead over her two GOP rivals about a month and a half after she began running statewide radio advertisements, according to a poll by the Capitol Weekly newspaper and the private firm Probolsky Research.

The poll, described here in the Capitol Weekly, found Whitman, the former CEO of online auction firm eBay, winning the support of 34.3 percent of 269 Republican respondents while former Congressman Tom Campbell won 12.5 percent and Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner had 5.5 percent of Republican support.

A Field Poll released last month found Whitman winning 22 percent of Republican support with Campbell at 20 percent and Poizner at 9 percent. That poll surveyed 373 Republican primary voters.

Whitman spokeswoman Sarah Pompei said about the Capitol Weekly poll, "California voters are supporting Meg Whitman because she has a successful business record and real-world experience creating thousands of jobs. She's not just another career politician."

Poizner spokesman Jarrod Agen said Whitman's ads were buying her name identification and that most voters weren't paying attention yet. Both Poizner and Whitman are wealthy former Silicon Valley executives self-financing much of their campaigns.

"The score only matters after the ninth inning, and we're not even out of the second inning yet," Agen said. "We've got several months ahead of campaigning around the state on our message of cutting taxes, creating jobs and reducing spending."

Campbell spokesman Jamie Fisfis agreed that the radio ads were paying off for Whitman but said "We're happy with where we are."

Read the poll here.

Attorney General Jerry Brown may be the last man standing in the Democratic race for governor, but he said Tuesday morning he's not ready yet to announce his candidacy.

"Anytime soon? Sure," Brown said when asked by a reporter about when he was planning to announce. "Soon within a kind of elongated sense."

Brown spoke to the press during a breakfast held Tuesday at the Moscone Center West in San Francisco that was hosted by political veteran Willie Brown and attended by politicians including Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Republican gubernatorial candidates Steve Poizner and Tom Campbell.

Brown hit a range of topics, including the Friday departure of San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom from the gubernatorial race. Brown opened an exploratory committee for governor last month and has already amassed millions of dollars of campaign money. He widely led all three Republican candidates in the latest Field Poll.

Attorney General Jerry Brown's communications director Scott Gerber submitted his resignation Monday after admitting last week that he had secretly taped conversations with reporters.

In the letter to Chief Deputy Attorney General James Humes, Gerber said he was resigning "with a heavy heart" but emphasized that "neither the Attorney General nor any other attorneys from our office were aware that I was recording interviews without permission."

The questionable, perhaps illegal, behavior came to light after Gerber contacted a San Francisco Chroncile editor to question whether the full scope of Humes' comments were reflected in an article and sent the editor a transcript of a conversation between Humes and political writer Carla Marinucci. Gerber had been placed on administrative leave after the Chronicle wrote about the incident Friday.

Recording private conversations without consent is illegal under California law.

The episode quickly emerged as an embarrassment for Brown, who is the sole Democratic hopeful in next year's governor's race. Brown has yet to declare his candidacy. Gerber did not handle communications for Brown's political campaigns.

"I want to apologize to (Humes) and Attorney General Brown for failing to live up to the standards of the Office," Gerber wrote. "I also apologize to the reporters whose interviews I taped without permission. They deserved better from me."

Read Gerber's letter of resignation here.

Correction: An earlier version of this post incorrectly stated that Gerber accused the Chronicle of misquoting Humes. The Bee regrets the error.

First Clinton, now Hickenlooper.

That would be Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper, who has endorsed San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom in his bid for the California Democratic gubernatorial nomination, according to a Newsom news release sent out today.

"I have had the pleasure of working with Gavin on many issues through the U.S. Conference of Mayors," Hickenlooper says in the release. "He and I share priorities on issues like education, health care, ending homelessness, and safeguarding the environment. His dedication to public service and commitment to reform and innovation are what California needs for a new direction."

Newsom won former President Bill Clinton's endorsement at a Los Angeles event last month and has also been endorsed by U.S. Rep. Bob Filner, D-San Diego, and state Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Los Angeles, who is Newsom's campaign co-chairman.

Attorney General Jerry Brown has yet to announce his candidacy for governor but is leading Newsom in the polls and in money raised.

You can expect more action coming out of the Assembly and Senate chambers this week.

But this special session isn't on water, education or tax reform.

It's the 29th session of the California Senior Legislature. , which meets each year with the mission of "(improving) the quality of life for aging Californians."

Over the next few days, the 40 "Senior Senators" and 80 "Senior Assemblymembers" will whittle a pool of more than 60 legislative proposals down to a handful of top priorities to push at the state and federal level. Click here to see a full list of the proposals up for consideration.

The Assembly Governmental Organization Committee is holding an 11 a.m. informational hearing on two separate state-tribal gaming compacts, one between the state and the Habematolel Pomo of Upper Lake, and another between the state and the Pinoleville Pomo Nation.

Still have questions about the Commission on the 21st Century Economy's recommendations for overhauling the state's revenue system?

Commission Chairman Gerald Parsky is holding an interactive "webinar" on the panel's proposals at 2 p.m. Click here to access the forum.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and first lady Maria Shriver are in Long Beach for the 2009 Women's Conference. Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, senior White House advisor Valerie Jarrett, United Nations Messenger of Peace and famed primatologist Jane Goodall, FDIC Chair Sheila Bair, CBS Evening News anchor Katie Couric, Elizabeth Edwards and actor Ashton Kutcher are among the many speakers listed on the conference agenda.

Gov2010: Meg Whitman will deliver the keynote speech at San Diego Business Journal's "16th Annual Women Who Mean Business Awards."

Former Los Angeles Mayor and state Education Secretary Richard Riordan has endorsed Republican gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman, adding to her collection of high-profile endorsements such as from former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani and U.S. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.

In the Whitman news release sent out this morning, Riordan says, "Meg believes the future of our state and the strength of our nation depend on Californians rededicating ourselves to education. Her commitment to returning control of our schools back to parents and teachers and demanding accountability makes Meg the best candidate."

Whitman repeated the education theme in her quotes in the news release.

"I appreciate Richard Riordan's steadfast commitment to education reform,'' Whitman said. "Over the decades, he has worked relentlessly to ensure every California student has access to a quality education. I am honored to have Mayor Riordan's endorsement and he will be an asset to my team."

Whitman, the billionaire former CEO of the online auction firm eBay, has made fixing education one of the three priorities of her campaign, along with creating jobs and cutting state spending.

Whitman rival, state Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner, has won endorsements from other former officials such as former UC Regent Ward Connerly and former state Treasurer Matt Fong.

Minutes after Whitman's news release was sent out, Poizner's campaign released its own endorsement news, this from David Keene, chairman of the American Conservative Union, which bills itself as the country's largest oldest and largest conservative lobbying organization.

"Steve Poizner's background of creating jobs in the private sector and cutting spending in government distinguishes him from all of his competitors and clearly qualifies him to rebuild California's economy," Keene is quoted as saying in the release. "Conservative principles are needed to fix California's broken economy, and I'm confident that Steve has the right plan of cutting taxes and reducing government spending to turn the state around. He is, quite frankly, just what California needs!"

"Constitutional reform" is tomorrow's buzz phrase du jour, with the results of a new Field Poll and a daylong conference exploring different options for putting the function back in California's dysfunctional governmental processes on tap.

Democratic gubernatorial hopeful Gavin Newsom set out to make his stance on how to fix California clear a day early, unleashing an online video voicing his support for calling a limited convention to revise the state constitution.

Newsom and GOP gubernatorial hopefuls Meg Whitman and Tom Campbell have all previously thrown their backing behind the idea, while Republican candidate Steve Poizner says he's not a fan of the constitutional convention route. Democrat Jerry Brown, who's still not an official candidate, told CalBuzz last spring that he's open to the idea.

Here's Newsom's new spot. See read the transcript after the jump.

The Bee's Jack Chang took a look at former U.S. Rep. Tom Campbell's gubernatorial bid and found that while the Republican candidate doesn't have the same cash cushion as GOP rivals Meg Whitman and Steve Poizner, his focus on policy is playing well with voters.

"Whatever Campbell is doing, it appears to be working -- eight months before the Republican primary.

While Whitman outspent him 38-to-1 in the first six months of this year, Campbell is locked in a statistical tie with her for first place among Republican primary voters, according to a nonpartisan Field Poll released last week.

Campbell received 20 percent of voters' support, while Whitman, the billionaire former CEO of online auction firm eBay, was preferred by 22 percent.Campbell also polled 11 percentage points higher than Insurance Commissioner Poizner, despite spending one-tenth as much as Poizner from January to June.

Analysts credited Campbell's long political career and name recognition for his surprising success, especially against relatively unknown and inexperienced rivals such as Whitman and Poizner. They also doubted whether Campbell's poll numbers would remain competitive once his wealthy rivals began running advertising."

Click here to read the full story from today's Bee.

Earlier this week, Los Angeles Times columnist George Skelton set up some scenarios that could boost Campbell's chances at snagging the party's nod. Read that piece here.

Photo credit: Hector Amezcua/SacBee.

GOP gubernatorial hopeful Meg Whitman has released a new statewide radio ad in which she promises to create 2 million private-sector jobs by 2015.

The ad follows on introductory radio ads timed with the Sept. 22 formal announcement of her candidacy, nine months before the primary. The new ad is the campaign's third statewide radio ad and the second to predominantly feature Whitman's voice.

The billionaire former CEO of the online auction firm eBay is expected to spend millions of her own dollars on her campaign.

In the new ad, Whitman continues the anti-Sacramento rhetoric she regularly uses on the campaign trail, stating, "Sacramento is out of control. Government should not spend more than it takes in."

Whitman has also pledged in speeches to cut 40,000 state government jobs, returning the state workforce to what she says are 2004-05 levels.

The ad sticks closely to the three points Whitman has organized her campaign around: cutting government spending, creating jobs and improving education.

Read a transcript of the ad after the jump.

As my colleague Andrew McIntosh reports in today's Bee, GOP gubernatorial hopeful Meg Whitman has reversed course in her response to a Bee investigation into her voting record, shifting from public apologies and explanations for her failure to vote to an aggressive push to present evidence that she was in fact registered and voting at various points in her life.

Wondering what people have been saying about the fallout? Here's a roundup from the always buzzing blogosphere:

Calbuzz has some questions about Whitman's decision to strike back, including why the Santa Clara County registrar still can't confirm the campaign's claim that she registered in 1999 and why the Whitman camp waited so long after the original story was published to push back.

FlashReport.org has the open letter the Whitman campaign penned to dispute some of the story's claims and more criticism from conservative talk radio host Hugh Hewitt.

The Huffington Post contributor Chris Kelly breaks down the Whitman camp's argument as "that which cannot be disproved must be believed."

The O.C. Register's Martin Wisckol interviewed Whitman about her explanation of why she didn't vote and what she has to say to potential supporters turned off by her record. Click here to read Wisckol's column on the voting record fallout.

The Chicago Tribune's Swamp blog has a recap of what Whitman had to say on the matter to Fox Business News host Neil Cavuto.

Here's the video of that interview (h/t Talking Points Memo):

Also at SacBee.com: Check out a timeline of how the story unfolded or listen to Whitman's brief interview with The Bee from before the story broke.

Former New York Mayor and Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani has endorsed GOP gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman, according to a press release from the Whitman team released this morning.

Whitman has already received endorsements from other national GOP figures such as Sen. John McCain, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney - both of them presidential candidates last year - and Republican Minority Whip Rep. Eric Cantor.

GOP gubernatorial candidate Steve Poizner has received endorsements from a handful of federal legislators, including Reps. Elton Gallegly, Jerry Lewis and Gary Miller, according to Poizner's Web site.

Here's part of the Whitman press release:

Meg Whitman, Republican candidate for Governor, today announced the endorsement of Rudy Giuliani, former Mayor of New York City and 2008 Republican candidate for President.

"Rudy Giuliani's reputation as a leader who takes on challenges and makes the tough choices necessary to improve people's lives is well deserved. Whether responding to tragedy or fixing broken government programs, Giuliani's leadership is a model for getting results," said Whitman. "I am grateful for Mayor Giuliani's support."

"Meg Whitman is simply the best person to lead our country's largest state," Giuliani said. "Meg's disciplined focus on creating jobs, cutting wasteful spending and improving education is the right course for California. I also believe that Meg Whitman can help reenergize the grassroots of the Republican Party."

Political consultants usually operate behind the scenes, but on Monday, they were the stars of the American Association of Political Consultants' regional conference held in Sacramento.

The heavy hitters included Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's former communications director Rob Stutzman, Sen. Barbara Boxer's longtime campaign manager Rose Kapolczynski, California Assembly Republicans political director Kevin Spillane and longtime Democratic consultant Bill Carrick.

Some nuggets of wisdom:

GOP gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman has hit talk radio recently to talk about her spotty voting record in the wake of a story in The Sacramento Bee.

Appearing on Ronn Owens' talk show on KGO in San Francisco on Wednesday, Whitman cited "inaccuracies" in the The Bee article and said she was misquoted.

Owens: And then, this was the damning part, so I've just got into Meg Whitman, the person. It says, "In an interview, Whitman says she was registered as a Republican before coming to California but declined to say where the public record might be found. Quote, Go find it she said."

Whitman: Yeah, I didn't say that. You know, I was asked a question about, you know, why they couldn't find registered or records and um, someone standing next to me said, "It's all a matter of public record," and I think I said, "Yeah, something like, Yeah, It's a matter of public record. So trust me, I did not say, in that, the way it was phrased in that article, I did not say, "Go find it." I didn't.

We at Capitol Alert thought you might want to hear my interview for yourself. Whitman Press Secretary Sarah Pompei is the other voice on the recording.

Just a day after Attorney General Jerry Brown announced he was forming an exploratory committee for a possible gubernatorial run, declared Democratic candidate Gavin Newsom challenged Brown to 11 debates in every media market in the state.

"Our state is in need of real reform -- we have a broken system that must be fixed," Newsom said in the news release. "And now that there are two candidates for governor, we owe the Democratic voters of California an opportunity to compare our visions and platforms side-by-side."

Newsom suggested ground rules in the debate invitation, which his campaign faxed to Brown, the news release said. That included suggesting that 10 of the debates focus on one topic each, with the 11th dealing with a range of topics.

Among other suggestions, according to the press release:

• 90 minutes in length • Opening and closing statements • Moderated, town hall-style debates with direct audience participation • Segments with moderator questions, public questions, and candidate-to-candidate questions • An opportunity for candidates to respond directly to any assertions made about their record

Brown adviser Steven Glazer just sent out this response:

"September 30, 2009

Dear Mayor Newsom-

Thank you for your kind invitation to Attorney General Brown to hold 11 debates prior to the June Primary for Governor.

As you may know, Attorney General Brown is not a declared candidate for Governor. While he has processed the paperwork to create an exploratory committee for that office, he is currently focused on doing his job as Attorney General -- protecting consumers and prosecuting criminals.

If Attorney General Brown decides to declare his candidacy for Governor, I'm sure he would support the notion of holding debates under terms to be mutually agreed upon by the candidates.

Thank you again for writing.

Steven Glazer

Senior Advisor"

In the ongoing uproar over her scant voting record, GOP gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman has offered the latest in a string of explanations her campaign has been giving since the Bee reported last week that it couldn't find any record Whitman had registered to vote before 2002.

Whitman told reporters today she "was not as engaged as I should have been over the last 20 or 30 years" because she "was focused on raising a family, on my husband's career, we moved many, many times."

She made her remarks after addressing the Republican Women Federated groups of Yolo, Sacramento and Solano counties.

After becoming the CEO of online auction firm eBay in 1998, Whitman said, she had a political awakening. The statement overall is a monster mea culpa, with Whitman saying "that was a mistake" three times and "no excuse" three times.

Here's the full text of the question and Whitman's answer:

Question from AP's Juliet Williams: Ms. Whitman, the voting issue is not going away. Do you want to address it again? I mean, specifically, perhaps the 2002 issue. You said in prepared remarks ahead of time in the February convention that you were registered in 1998. Was that wrong?

Whitman: That was a mistake. That was a mistake. And actually I don't remember saying that, but I'm sure I did. So that was a mistake. You know, on this voting issue, you know, I like many Americans was not as engaged as I should have been over the last 20 or 30 years. I was focused on raising a family, on my husband's career, we moved many, many times, and it is no excuse. My voting record, my registration record is unacceptable. There is no excuse for it. But I will tell you I was not engaged in the political process as I should have been. So when I came to eBay, what I saw was the incredible difficulties that government created for small business, you heard me talk about it in there, inspired individuals who created business, who got slapped down by taxation, by bureaucracy and regulation. And I will tell you that inspired me to get involved. And it is a problem that many other Americans, we don't have an engaged population as much as we should. I should have been more engaged. There is absolutely no excuse for it. And you know, I want people to know that I'm not making excuses, but I think I share some of the same characteristics with many voters that haven't been as engaged as they should have.

In other news, Team Whitman announced today that Bob Naylor, former Assembly Republican leader and former California Republican Party chairman, has withdrawn his endorsement of GOP candidate Steve Poizner and thrown his support behind Whitman.

Rex Babin is the political cartoonist for The Bee. You can see a collection of his work here.

He's still not officially in, but a new Rasmussen Reports poll on the 2010 gubernatorial race gives attorney general and likely Democratic candidate Jerry Brown a nearly double-digit edge over all three candidates vying for the Republican nomination in hypothetical match-ups.

Brown, who has yet to declare his candidacy but is expected to form an exploratory committee for the race sometime this week, held a 9-point advantage over RepublicanMeg Whitman , leading the former eBay executive 44 percent to 35 percent. The match-ups also gave Brown a 13-point edge over Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner and put him 10 points ahead of former Rep. Tom Campbell.

The telephone survey of 500 likely California voters, taken last Thursday, puts all three Republican contenders ahead of declared Democratic candidate Gavin Newsom.

Campbell held the widest lead over Newsom, beating the San Francisco mayor 42 to 36 in the poll, which has a 4.5-point margin of error. Newsom also trailed Whitman by 5 points, 41 percent to 36 percent, and Poizner by 4 points, 40 percent to 36 percent.

You might have seen some buzz on Twitter or in your e-mail inbox about Senate wannabee Chuck DeVore and GOP guv-hopeful Steve Poizner crushing respective rivals Carly Fiorina and Meg Whitman in the state party convention straw poll.

But as CNN's Peter Hamby points out: "One problem: There was no official straw poll at the California Republican Party Convention."

"We did not conduct a straw poll at this convention whatsoever," California GOP chairman Ron Nehring said in an e-mail.

So who did? An aide to DeVore -- a state Assemblyman who has actively courted the party's conservative wing as he prepares to battle Fiorina for the Republican Senate nomination -- acknowledged that Sunday's poll was engineered by the DeVore campaign, even though it was described as a "CRP straw poll" in an e-mail to supporters.

"It was not connected to the party," said DeVore spokesman Joshua Trevino. "We printed up the ballots, and they were distributed on Saturday night."

Trevino said in an interview that it was never the intention to give off the impression that the straw poll was party-sponsored.

"Our assumption was that everyone knew what we assumed they knew, which was that the party these days doesn't run a straw poll," he said.

He said organizers handed out ballots, which had the gubernatorial candidates' names listed first in alphabetical order, to attendees leaving the Saturday night speeches. About 200 ballots were returned to a box outside the DeVore convention suite.

It was not a function of people who already like Chuck," he said of the poll's methodology, though he conceded: "This is not scientific, this is not the height of polling, it's a straw poll it is what it is."

More convention wrap-up items:

• All three GOP guv hopefuls addressed the party over the weekend. Missed the main show? Read the prepared text of speeches by Tom Campbell , Steve Poizner and Meg Whitman .
• As Jack Chang reports, some social conservatives weren't feeling too optimistic about their options.
• Some convention-goers got creative with costumes to take jabs at gubernatorial candidates.
• Whitman didn't get creative in her response to reporters' repeated questions about why she failed to vote for most of her adult life. Listen to her stick to the I'm sorry line as the press presses her to explain why she stayed home from the polls for so many years.

This post was updated at 12:50 with additional comments from Josh Trevino.

GOP gubernatorial candidate Steve Poizner repeated his campaign's call Saturday for rival Meg Whitman to drop out of the race after The Bee reported this week that it could not find evidence that Whitman registered to vote until 2002.

State Insurance Commissioner Poizner told The Bee in an interview at the California Republican Party convention in Indian Wells that Whitman's voting record made her "unelectable." On Thursday, the day the Bee story was published, Poizner communications director Jarrod Agen first called on Whitman to "step aside."

"We need to have a primary with people who have a chance to take the Republican nomination and actually win," Poizner said Saturday. "She unelectable. She cannot be the governor of the state of California. That would be unprecedented in the history of our country. She's not going to be the governor. So therefore, step aside so we can make room for other people who might want to run."

Whitman, the former CEO of online auction firm eBay, is scheduled to address the convention at a noon luncheon, while Poizner speaks tonight. The third GOP candidate, former Congressman Tom Campbell, addressed the convention Friday night. In an interview Saturday, Campbell declined to comment on Whitman's voting record.

Whitman was the target of another attack Saturday when shortly before the luncheon, a person dressed in a chicken costume descended a curling staircase down to where dozens of Republicans were hobnobbing.

A sign worn by the chicken read:

"Meg 2 Chicken 2 Debate!?"

Poizner spokesman Bettina Inclan said she did not know who set up the chicken stunt. For weeks, Poizner has hounded Whitman for declining to debate the other GOP candidates.

Whitman's campaign this week said she will participate in a debate sponsored by New Majority Orange County in March.

There's a Grand Old Party going down in Indian Wells this weekend as California Republicans meet for their biannual state party convention.

As colleague Jack Chang reports in today's Bee, Republicans are hoping opposition to President Barack Obama's health care proposal and continuing concerns over the economy will rev up Republicans in the run-up to the 2010 election.

"What's unique and exciting about this convention is the party now has a lot of momentum going into next year," Brent Lowder, the California Republican Party's chief operating officer, says in today's story. "This convention is going to be a nice focal point to take that momentum out there as seen in town halls on health care and channel it into 2010 in victories for the Republican Party."

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, whose "dying at the box office" remarks at the fall 2007 conference irked attendees, will kick things off with a speech at Friday's dinner banquet.

All three GOP gubernatorial hopefuls are scheduled to speak, with former Rep. Tom Campbell taking the stage today, followed by speeches from former eBay CEO Meg Whitman and Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner on Saturday.

Other familiar names on the speakers' schedule include GOP legislative leaders Assemblyman Sam Blakeslee and Sen. Dennis Hollingsworth; state Sens. Jeff Denham and Sam Aanestad, both candidates for lieutenant governor; Assemblyman and U.S. Senate hopeful Chuck DeVore; as well as Rep. Mary Bono Mack, state Sen. George Runner and Weekly Standard editor Fred Barnes.

Now, back to today's happenings:

The governor will start the day at Southern California's Twentynine Palms Marine Base at a signing ceremony for AB 717 , a bill to designate a day honoring Vietnam veterans. This isn't the first time Schwarzenegger's pen has touched the proposal -- he vetoed an identical measure a few weeks ago because he was unhappy with the speed of end-of-session progress on top issues such as prisons and water.

The bill's author, Republican Assemblyman Paul Cook, who said before he was "ready to go to war" over the vetoed bill, will join Schwarzenegger for his John Hancock photo-op.

Demonstrations to protest state budget cuts to higher education are drawing large crowds of students, professors and workers at at all 10 University of California campuses today.

A judge has ordered the state to pay back about 7,900 State Compensation Insurance Fund back for 16 furlough days that were ruled to be illegal, plus interest.

The SCIF president also announced her resignation today.

Someone forgot to tell Democratic Sen. Alan Lowenthal that the Senate's Washington trip -- and his hotel room -- were canceled.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger appointed a former employer to his chief of staff to a board that regulates horse racing.

Meg Whitman has joined Steve Poizner in signing Americans for Tax Reform's no-tax pledge.

Carly Fiorina, who's eyeing a bid for U.S. Senate, talks to Flashreport.org about why she won't be at the Republican Party convention this weekend.

Fiorina's new "Carlyfornia"-centric campaign Web site is drawing chuckles from critics on both sides of the aisle.

California's selling state-owned buildings to raise cash. Some of the spots are named for some prominent California politicians.

Photo: A rally at UC Berkeley campus today. Credit: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images.

New details about Meg Whitman's failure to vote in elections for most of her adult life have given ammo to critics who say her past performance -- or lack thereof -- should disqualify her from seeking the Republican gubernatorial nomination.

A Bee investigation published today found that Whitman, who formally announced her bid for the Republican gubernatorial nomination this week, regularly missed voting in elections for most of her adult life. Bee reporter Andrew McIntosh also found no record of the 53-year-old former eBay executive registering to vote before 2002.

The story set off the latest round of attacks fired between the Whitman campaign and one of her chief rivals, Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner.

Poizner's camp issued a statement in response to the story this morning, attacking the Whitman campaign for "refusing to answer simple questions and deliberately lying to cover up the facts" and calling for the candidate to "step aside" and drop out of the race.

"It's understandable that Meg Whitman is ashamed of this record. But it's unacceptable that she continues to run from the record and deceive voters. Though there is no shred of evidence she ever registered as a Republican before 2007, she insists she did, yet she refuses to provide any evidence. Her arrogant answer: 'Go find it,' " Communications Director Jarrod Agen said in a statement. "In the history of America, no one has been elected governor of a state with Meg Whitman's 25 year history of no-show voting. She is unelectable and has tried to cover her lack of honesty with millions of dollars."

In a statement issued this afternoon, the Whitman campaign acknowledged her spotty voting record and shot back at Poizner, saying he "hides behind others or misrepresents himself" in regard to criticism about his past stances on taxes and campaign contributions to Democratic candidates.

"Voting is a precious right that all Americans should exercise. I have repeatedly said that my voting record is inexcusable. I failed to register and vote on numerous occasions throughout my life. That is simply wrong and I have taken responsibility for my mistake," Whitman said in a statement. "California needs leaders who are accountable for their actions. I take responsibility for mine, while my opponent, Steve Poizner, runs from his."

Wondering how a voting record is likely to impact a gubernatorial campaign's viability? Andrew McIntosh has more on that angle here.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger today dismissed a vow by Republican gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman to suspend California's landmark greenhouse gas law if she's elected to succeed him next year as "just rhetoric that is going on among the candidates."

"You will hear all kinds of stories," Schwarzenegger told an audience at the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco. "What will happen in reality and what they will do when they go into office is probably a whole different ballgame, and I think she will probably reconsider what she said.

"I'm sure she does not want to be counted as one of those Republicans that will want to move us back to the Stone Age or something like that," the Republican governor said. "So I would pay no attention to this kind of rhetoric."

In her campaign kick-off swing this week, Whitman told audiences she would suspend AB 32, a 2006 law that requires California to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 25 percent by 2020. Whitman said the law was "a prime example" of "overreaching environmental regulations that have left us at an economic disadvantage to our neighboring states."

Whitman's camp responded to the governor's dig today by claiming the candidate wasn't looking to repeal the law, just invoke a provision in the measure and suspend it for a year to give the economy a chance to get stronger, and to give California "an opportunity to coordinate our environmental efforts with Washington."

(Besides, as Schwarzenegger spokesman Aaron McLear pointed out, a new governor couldn't revoke regulations already adopted to implement the law without new legislation.)

Schwarzenegger, who was at the Commonwealth Club to celebrate the third anniversary of his signing the bill, called AB 32 "the most comprehensive greenhouse warming bill ever signed," and the linchpin of a blossoming green-technology industry in California.

The governor said the state was already 40 percent of the way toward meeting the law's goals, and that it was serving as a worthy model for the rest of the country and world. Likening it to the "new California Gold Rush," Schwarzenegger said investment in green technology and alternative energy systems was growing 10 times faster here than the rest of the United States.

"This is great, great stuff happening in California," Schwarzenegger said.

GOP guv-hopeful Meg Whitman officially rolled out her gubernatorial bid earlier today, making an announcement during a Southern California campaign stop and launching a radio ad statewide.

Whitman's announcement touched on familiar themes for those following her campaign so far: cutting taxes, curbing spending, reducing the state work force and rolling back regulations that she says stifle job growth. Read the prepared remarks here.

The former eBay executive's opponents for the Republican nomination, Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner and former Rep. Tom Campbell, criticized Whitman's plan for lacking specifics.

Poizner Communications Director Jarrod Agen issued a statement touting Poizner's recently unveiled jobs plan and calling on other candidates to announce "real solutions to the problems the state faces."

"The Whitman CEO strategy of writing big checks and massive lay-offs is not going to rebuild California," he said in a statement.

Campbell, who released in May a proposal for cutting spending, also wrote a blog post on his Web site calling on Whitman to delve into the details of her plan.

This post was updated to include responses from the Campbell and Poizner campaigns.

The marathon for the governor's seat may only be hitting its first miles some nine months before the primaries, but most of the candidates' campaign staffs are ready to run.

On the Republican side, former eBay CEO Meg Whitman has already spent millions of dollars on her campaign and brought in national figures such as communications director Tucker Bounds, who won headlines as a spokesman on the McCain-Palin campaign. Whitman has also tapped California expertise, such as Rob Stutzman, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's former communications director.

GOP candidate Steve Poizner, another former Silicon Valley CEO with deep pockets, has also brought in national staff, including deputy campaign manager Audrey Perry, who served as campaign finance counsel for McCain-Palin. Poizner's campaign manager, Jim Bognet, was Schwarzenegger's chief deputy special advisor for jobs and economic growth.

The third Republican, former Congressman Tom Campbell, runs a tighter ship. His former congressional aide Hana Callaghan is coordinating the campaign.

The only declared Democratic candidate, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, has tapped Democratic heavyweights such as campaign manager Nick Clemons, who worked on Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign, and veteran politico Garry South, most notably former Gov. Gray Davis' chief consultant and now a Newsom strategist.

Attorney General Jerry Brown hasn't declared his candidacy yet but is already talking like a gubernatorial hopeful. Longtime strategist Steven Glazer is serving as de facto press aide to the former governor's unannounced gubernatorial campaign. Asked about Brown's campaign staff either for re-election as attorney general or for governor, Glazer responded, "We have a wonderful collection of volunteers and only have paid positions in accounting, web and clerical."

Here are the complete lists, minus Brown as noted above, courtesy of the campaigns:

Tom Campbell

Hana Callaghan, campaign coordinator
Jamie Fisfis, press secretary
Mindy Finn and Patrick Ruffini, Web managers

Gavin Newsom

Nick Clemons, campaign manager
Garry South, strategist
Ricky Le, political director
Chris Corcoran, finance director
Abbe Ross, chief operating officer
Peter Ragone, communications adviser

Steve Poizner

Jim Bognet, campaign manager
Stuart Stevens, strategy and media consultant
Audrey Perry, deputy campaign manager
Sarah Simmons, senior political advisor
Lanhee Chen, deputy campaign manager and policy director

Meg Whitman

Jillian Hasner, campaign manager
Jeff Randle, general consultant
Tucker Bounds, communications director
Richard Costigan, policy director
Todd Cranney, political director
Sarah Pompei, press secretary
Rob Stutzman, senior advisor
Henry Gomez, senior advisor

GOP gubernatorial hopeful Tom Campbell released a unique health care proposal Thursday that would redistribute $42 billion in federal and state funds already spent on health care in California to buy private health coverage for everyone in the state who's "involuntarily" uninsured.

Under the former congressman's plan, the funds would cover an estimated 2 million such people in addition to the 7.6 million already receiving public health coverage under the state Medi-Cal and Healthy Families programs.

"The astounding conclusion," Campbell writes in his proposal, "is that, using only the money already being spent by the federal and state governments for health care in California, we could buy free market health insurance currently available and cover all involuntarily uninsured in California, and still have more than $700 per person left over!"

Campbell suggested the state launch its own plan "in the event that the federal effort does not produce meaningful reform."

His plan would let private insurers bid against each other for a fixed pot of money to cover everyone in a "relevant geographic region" who earned below a certain amount or who had been denied coverage by two private insurers because of a pre-existing medical condition.

To implement the plan, however, the state would have to win a federal waiver allowing it to use federal funds in such a way, and the federal government would have to repeal the antitrust exemption for insurance companies and also pass laws allowing the interstate sale of insurance plans.

And if no insurer bids in a region, the status quo continues.

Guv-hopeful Gavin Newsom dismissed today speculation that President Clinton's endorsement of his gubernatorial bid is a swipe at Attorney General Jerry Brown, saying "I don't know that Bill Clinton is that petty."

Buzz about bad blood between Clinton and Brown, who both ran for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1992, emerged shortly after news of the former president's plans to endorse Newsom hit the wires. Brown hasn't officially entered the race, but is widely expected to do so and has a lead over the San Francisco mayor in the polls and in campaign fundraising.

"This guy has been attacked not just by Jerry Brown but by the best of them. And I'm not sure he thinks about those things," Newsom said. "Does he forget those things? I don't know. It's a little too convenient to say it's just about that one moment, that it's just about one exchange. Politics is heated. That was nothing compared to what he's endured from real opponents."

Newsom made the remarks during an interview with The Bee's Jack Chang. Newsom, Brown and two GOP gubernatorial candidates spoke at a forum earlier today. Read more on that event here.

Polls point to Attorney General Jerry Brown as the early favorite in the 2010 gubernatorial race, but Brown isn't ready to say yet whether he'll officially throw his hat in the ring.

The Bee's Jack Chang caught Brown's comment on the matter at the Silicon Valley Leadership Group conference, where he and three other gubernatorial hopefuls appeared as panelists.

"The whole system is bogged down all over Sacramento," Brown said. "We need a very strong leader who can pull everyone together. I'm not a candidate. Yes I am leading in the polls, but I'm not yet convinced....The people of California are not anxious to hear from their candidates yet, and the deadline for filing papers isn't until March - so tune in."

Read Jack's story here.

Gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman announced Tuesday she's "investing" $250,000 to help the California Republican Party recover from steady declines in GOP voter registration.

Asked about the issue In an interview, Whitman wouldn't indicate whether she planned to give the party more money but said the $250,000 "will be enough to jump-start voter registration and hopefully, it will provide impetus for other people to contribute."

"I feel very strongly we need to rebuild and re-energize the Republican Party in California," she said.

Whitman, the billionaire former CEO of online auction site eBay, has given her campaign $19 million from her own wealth. In the news release, Whitman noted that Republican registration in the state had dropped from 39.3 percent in 1990 to 31.1 percent currently, with the Democratic lead over Republican registration almost doubling over the past four years.

Whitman says she was a registered decline-to-state voter from 1998 to 2007, when she became a Republican.

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Gavin Newsom has reportedly scored the support of President Bill Clinton.

Clinton is expected to endorse the San Francisco mayor when he joins Newsom at two Los Angeles campaign events Oct. 5.

Art Torres, former head of the California Democratic Party, told ABC News that a former president has never before endorsed a candidate in a California primary for statewide office.

All in the family flashbacks:

Newsom endorsed Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's White House run early in the 2008 Democratic presidential primary.

Clinton outpolled Attorney General Jerry Brown, who is expected to announce a gubernatorial run, by 7 points in the 1992 California presidential primary.

A video from last spring has pulled GOP candidate Meg Whitman into the political firestorm surrounding Van Jones, President Obama's green energy czar.

Jones apologized recently for a a series of controversial comments that irked conservatives and raised questions about the White House's screening process for bringing the green jobs guru on board. At least one Republican congressman is calling for Jones to step down.

Whitman, who met Jones last year on a cruise to highlight climate change issues, was thrown into the mix when a video of her giving props to Jones surfaced and was picked up by the blogosphere and in the press. Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner's gubernatorial campaign mashed up a parody video poking fun at Whitman's comments.

The Whitman camp says the candidate's kind words about Jones have been overblown.

"My husband and I met him and many others on a cruise sponsored by National Geographic and The Aspen Institute. He talked about supporting job growth in California, but of course I did not do a background check of his past over dinner," Whitman said in a prepared statement. "As these reports have surfaced, it's clear that he holds views that I entirely reject; any suggestion otherwise is ridiculous."

Former gubernatorial candidate Steve Westly said unequivocally in an interview Tuesday that he's not running for office next year and instead will be "dedicated to being the best father I can be."

Speculation has bubbled that the Democratic former eBay executive might jump into next year's gubernatorial race. Last month, former San Francisco Mayor and Assembly Speaker Willie Brown raised the question yet again in his regular column in the San Francisco Chronicle.

So far, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom is the only declared Democratic candidate, although Attorney General and former California Gov. Jerry Brown is widely expected to announce his candidacy. The Republican field so far feature former eBay CEO Meg Whitman, state Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner and former Congressman Tom Campbell.

Westly, however, made it clear that he's not interested...at least this time around.

"I will run for state governor or another office," Westly said. "But not in 2010."

Westly is currently the managing partner of The Westly Group, a Menlo Park-based venture capital firm dedicated to clean tech investment. He served one term as state controller and failed to capture the Democratic nomination for governor in 2006 despite spending $35 million of his own money.

Here's a roundup of some stories you might have missed today:

Democratic Assemblywoman Noreen Evans isn't wasting any time launching her bid to replace Sen. Pat Wiggins, who announced yesterday that she won't run for re-election in 2010. Evans has already secured the support of Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg and Assembly Speaker Karen Bass.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger sent a letter today appealing the Obama administration's decision to deny California's request to declare a federal disaster over severe drought conditions. Read the letter here.

Assemblyman Ted Gaines, R-Roseville, sent a letter urging the governor not to close the
Marshall Gold Discovery State Historical Park. The Parks Department announced last week that the site, which was home to the discovery of gold that triggered the California Gold Rush, would close because of budget cuts.

A group of 28 legislators has signed a letter protesting the Department of Public Health's effort to retroactively cut off payments as far back as July 1 for non-profit organizations that provide assistance to domestic violence victims through the Domestic Violence Program. The program was eliminated in the recent round of budget cuts.

Insurance Commissioner and Republican gubernatorial candidate Steve Poizner is calling for a part-time Legislature that he says will force representatives to spend more time in their districts and learn more about people's needs.

Poizner raised the issue at a speech in San Diego on Thursday.

The candidate expanded on the idea Monday while talking to Sacramento radio station KTKZ.

According to a transcript sent by Poizner's camp, the candidate said: "We have to wrestle control out of the hands of these career politicians and instead elect people that actually come from the trenches: teachers and bus drivers and business people who have a career, that have income coming from having to make a payroll some place, or getting a paycheck."

On Saturday, former Assembly Speaker Willie Brown rejected the idea in his column in the San Francisco Chronicle, writing:

"Basically, it would put part-timers in charge of a $100 billion corporation. All it would do is give the governor even more power.

"Think about it. The legislators would all have to get outside jobs. Anytime the governor wanted something, he could just call a special session, force them up to Sacramento for weeks on end and starve them into submission."

San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom is hitting strong headwinds in his gubernatorial bid - even in his home base, according to poll results reported by the San Francisco Chronicle today.

A poll conducted from Aug. 15 to 18 by David Binder Research found Newsom trailed Attorney General Jerry Brown by 17 percentage points among San Francisco respondents who had made up their minds in the race or were leaning toward a candidate in the race, the poll found. Brown won 51 percent of respondents' support in San Francisco, while Newsom won 34 percent, according to the poll of 423 likely Democratic voters.

Brown hasn't yet declared his candidacy but is widely expected to do so. Various polls have shown Brown leading Newsom among Democratic voters statewide.

Republican gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman jumped into the prison legislation melee Friday in an e-mail in which she called plans to release some 27,000 prisoners over the next fiscal year "an unbelievable violation of the trust Californians put in their leaders to carry out the first duty of government - public safety."

Among other measures, the bill would allow some inmates to be released early and wouldn't automatically send back to prison parole violators. The state Senate approved the plan Thursday, but the Assembly has stalled on the legislation.

In the e-mail, Whitman also criticized another part of the bill appointing a commission to rewrite the state's sentencing laws, saying the commission "is a dangerous and poorly disguised attempt to overturn the will of voters who overwhelming approved the Three Strikes and You're Out Law."

For the record, the commission would have no authority to rewrite Proposition 184.

Whitman spokeswoman Sarah Pompei expanded on the e-mail in a written statement:

"Three Strikes is an initiative but the commission, as passed by the Senate, could pick apart the law by picking and choosing which felonies can be turned into misdemeanors," Pompei wrote.

"Once you open the door and start talking about downgrading felonies to misdemeanors, which this commission would have the power to do, you begin to dismantle criminal sentencing in California and weaken 3 strikes and overturn the will of the people."

A new poll by the political blog Daily Kos shows the early gubernatorial match-up between Attorney General Jerry Brown and San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom as relatively close, with Brown leading Newsom by nine percentage points among 600 likely voters polled.

Brown enjoyed 29 percent of respondents' support while Newsom had 20 percent, the poll found. Brown hasn't yet declared himself a candidate but is widely expected to run.

Among declared Republican candidates, former eBay CEO Meg Whitman drew the support of 24 percent of respondents in a three-way match-up against former U.S. Rep. Tom Campbell, at 19 percent, and state Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner at 9 percent.

The poll, which was conducted by the firm Research 2000 from Aug. 9 to 12, also found Californians almost evenly split about same-sex marriage, with 47 percent of respondents saying they would vote for an initiative legalizing such marriages and 48 percent saying they would oppose it if a vote was held immediately on the issue.

Sighted in a Capitol-area garage: "citations" to appear at Democratic gubernatorial candidate Gavin Newsom's Thursday town hall in Sacramento. "Tickets" were slipped under the windshield wipers of cars parked in a garage at 10th and L streets. We're guessing the campaign will accept contributions in lieu of a traffic fine.

"If the whole society starts getting stoned, we're going to be even less competitive," Democratic Attorney General Jerry Brown, quoted in a San Francisco Chronicle article on leading gubernatorial candidates' positions on legalizing marijuana.

On that note, here's a roundup of some of the Gov 2010 stories you might have missed this weekend and today:

The GOP primary is 10 months away, but it has already piqued the interest of the national media.

The Fix's Chris Cillizza thinks "handicapping [the GOP primary] is next to impossible."

While Cillizza also thinks either of the presumed Democratic candidates would be "riveting" to watch, some expect the primary race to get "nasty" soon.

Former San Francisco Mayor and Assembly Speaker Willie Brown says there's still a chance that former State Controller and 2006 Democratic candidate Steve Westly or Sen. Dianne Feinstein could jump in that race.

The only officially declared candidate, San Francisco Mayor and Dem contender Gavin Newsom, was in the Windy City, courting Millennials at the Young Democrats of America Convention. Today, he'll be in Long Beach for a town hall.

On the GOP side, Meg Whitman followed up Friday events around Ventura County by spending Saturday in San Diego, where she told the audience that she looks to the Lone Star state as an example for jump starting job creation. Sounds like she's got a busy schedule? If her e-mails are any indication, the candidate has the superhuman ability to be two places at once.

Also going on in the Republican field: Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner tweeted the news of his new press secretary this morning.

Team Poizner introduced its new press secretary via Twitter this morning. Bettina Inclan (an avid tweeter herself) joins the campaign from the Citizens in Charge Foundation, a national voting rights group that focuses on protecting the ballot initiative and referendum process.

Inclan has formerly served as spokeswoman and executive director of the Republican National Hispanic Assembly, a member of the White House Bi-Partisan Council for Immigration Reform and a staffer for Republican lawmakers in Congress, according to the Poizner press release. (She also made The Hill's list of top 50 hotties in 2005).

The announcement comes as gubernatorial candidates on both sides of the aisle are looking to court Latino constituents, who make up 21 percent of the state's registered voters, according to a new Field Poll report. When it comes to the GOP, Latinos represent 13 percent of Republican voters in California (up from 4 percent in 1978) and 21 percent of non-partisan/other voters (up from 5 percent in 1978).

Democratic gubernatorial hopefuls have been stepping up their pursuit of their party's share of Latino voters since Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said in June that he wouldn't seek the Democratic nomination, with Gavin Newsom tapping Hispanic politician Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Los Angeles, to chair his statewide campaign. Republican candidate Meg Whitman also lunched last week with the Gold Coast Hispanic Business Council in Ventura County.

Get your thumbs ready and your TweetDeck launched: GOP gubernatorial hopefuls might soon be taking 140-character questions from the "tweeple" of California in a Twitter-powered debate hosted by Brandman University.

Brandman professor Mike Moodian tweeted the three leading candidates for the Republican nomination -- @StevePoizner, @TalktoTom and @Whitman2010 - at noon today to ask them to participate in a fall debate on how to fix California's fiscal crisis.

Queries submitted through Twitter and e-mail will make up about half the questions in the 75-minute debate, which is set to be held at the Chapman University affiliate's Irvine campus (The actual debate will be face-to-face, so the candidates won't be limited to 140-character responses).

Moodian said he brought Twitter into the mix to give a greater pool of voters the opportunity to participate in the debate (a similar debate for Democratic candidates is in the works as well). By allowing questions to be tracked through hashtags or other mechanisms, he also hopes that the debate's Twitter feed can serve as a cyber snapshot of what's on the minds of many Californians.

"We believe that this will help engage the younger generation of voters in California," he said. "It is also ensuring the voices of citizens are included in the debates."

Team Poizner was the first to "tweet" back, accepting the invite from the candidate's trusty TwitterBerry at 12:02 p.m. - just 2 minutes after the initial invite hit the Twittersphere.

Whitman2010 later tweeted that she'd look at the dates: "Thanks for the debate invite - I'll consider the dates and respond soon."

Campbell's camp responded that he is "Looking forward to offering & debating specific solutions to California's financial crisis with my fellow candidates at Brandman University."

Moodian said he believes this is the first time a candidate for major office has accepted a debate invitation via a social networking site. He added that he gave all the campaigns a heads-up that the invites would be sent today, just in case they don't have their account alerts on, and that the candidates also had the option of responding via e-mail, phone or snail mail (but those would have been so 2006).

The debate is in part inspired by the YouTube debates of the 2008 presidential elections, which drew attention for some creatively staged questions. While the exact mechanism for choosing questions hasn't been determined, don't expect the entertainment factor to influence selection this time around.

"If we do find some tweets that come in that are creative yet address a serious topic, we will include those. ... (But) to us, this is a very serious debate and a critical time. There's a good possibility we will be looking for common trends in questions," Moodian said.

Eric Jaye, longtime adviser and top strategist for gov hopeful Gavin Newsom has signed off of the San Francisco mayor's gubernatorial campaign.

Jaye, who ran both of Newsom's mayoral bids. told the San Francisco Chronicle's Matier & Ross that he resigned over "a fundamental difference in how to run the campaign." You can read their full post here.

Here's a video of Jaye, who coordinated Newsom's new media campaign, talking Twitter as part of a PBS series on changing media models.

Hat tip: LAObserved

Bill Simon, the GOP's 2002 pick for governor, has endorsed Meg Whitman in her Republican primary bid.

Simon, who was a key player on former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani's presidential campaign before endorsing Republican nominee Arizona Sen. John McCain, has snagged the titles of campaign co-chairman and senior policy adviser.

Read Simon's statement, published on the Flash Report, after the jump.

Gavin Newsom, who faces significant challenges to gain political traction in Southern California, today named state senator and former Los Angeles city council member Alex Padilla to chair his 2010 gubernatorial campaign.

Padilla's appointment may boost Newsom among Latino voters and give him some extra reach in the L.A. media market where the San Francisco mayor lags behind likely Democratic candidate Jerry Brown in name recognition.

Padilla was elected to the Los Angeles City Council at 26 in 1999 and became council president in 2001. His 20th Senate District, representing 850,000 residents, covers a wide swath of the L.A. region.

"Senator Alex Padilla is one of the brightest and most accomplished rising political stars not just in Los Angeles but anywhere in the country," Newsom said in a statement. "I look forward to working side by side with Alex to bring about the change Sacramento needs."

Padilla said in a statement that he is "convinced that Gavin Newsom will bring that change to state government in a way that no other candidate in this race can."

Meg Whitman's gubernatorial campaign has chosen Sarah Pompei, a former deputy communications director for the California Republican Party, as its new press secretary.

Pompei most recently was the press secretary for Nebraska Sen. Mike Johanns and communications director for his senatorial campaign. She previously worked as deputy press secretary for presidential candidate Mitt Romney. A native of Santa Monica, she is a graduate of UC Berkeley.

"Sarah has top-notch campaign experience in some of the most competitive races in the country," said Whitman's communications director Tucker Bounds.

"Our campaign couldn't ask for a more effective communicator to have on board," he added.

Media Matters for America, a liberal news media watchdog, is castigating MSNBC for interviewing former Congressman Tom Campbell about California's budget crisis without identifying him as a Republican.

"During a discussion about the California budget crisis on the July 8 edition of MSNBC's Morning Meeting, host Dylan Ratigan interviewed former Rep. Tom Campbell (R-CA), but at no point disclosed that Campbell is a Republican," Media Matters said in a report. "Ratigan introduced Campbell as "a former California state budget director" and 'currently an economics and law professor at Chapman University,' and also stated that Campbell has 'the best budget familiarity.' During the segment, on-screen text also stated that Campbell is 'considering running for governor of California;' indeed, Campbell is currently seeking the Republican gubernatorial nomination."

Media Matters describes itself as an organization aimed at rooting out conservative bias in the media. Its full report on the Campbell interview is accessible here.

J.F.K. had the space race. Today, San Francisco Mayor and wannabe governor Gavin Newsom is hyping the "Great Electrical Vehicle Race."

In a speech for Gas 2.0 media, a blogosphere outfit promoting alternative fuel technologies, Newsom pitched a plan to make his city the nation's "epicenter" for electric cars.

The New York Times Magazine took a tour of the left coast, including a conversational jaunt with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and some rhetorical tanning time with likely gubernatorial contenders Jerry Brown, Gavin Newsom, Meg Whitman, Steve Poizner and Tom Campbell.

The magazine's July 5 story, featuring Newsom as the cover boy with the text, "The Gavinator?!?!, asks in its headline: "Who can possibly govern California?"

In the lengthy piece, writer Mark Leibovich offers some pointed observations on the present governor and his potential replacements.

On Schwarzenegger:

- Schwarzenegger reclined deeply in his chair, lighted an eight-inch cigar and declared himself "perfectly fine," despite the fiscal debacle and personal heartsickness all around him. "Someone else might walk out of here every day depressed, but I don't walk out of here depressed," Schwarzenegger said. Whatever happens, "I will sit down in my Jacuzzi tonight," he said. "I'm going to lay back with a stogie."

On Brown:

- An unlikely grown-up in the field, Jerry Brown recently dubbed himself the Apostle of Common Sense...Brown credited Schwarzenegger with "making the job of governor bigger"...I asked Brown if he added size to the governor's office during his two terms..."I don't know he said. I added some...dimension to the job." "Dementia," (wife) Anne (Gust) said, laughing. "No, dimension," Jerry clarified.

On Newsom:

- There is indeed about Newsom something of that quintessential California type, the overgrown and hyperactive child. Immensely gifted but flawed, he is a jumble of self-regard, self-confidence and self-immolation - potential greatness and a potential train wreck in the same metrosexual package."

On Whitman:

- Whitman is probably the early leader in the "Why this Place is Such a Mess" campaign. The state is "bleeding jobs," she says. It is "effectively bankrupt."...Whitman's campaign message is "A New California." ("Thank God for West Virginia and Mississippi" didn't test well, apparently.)

On Poizner:

- Poizner faces many obstacles. For starters, he is the state's insurance commissioner, which is hardly an electoral launching pad. He also looks like a state insurance commissioner (bookish, with a beakish nose) and is little known, and his name sounds like "poison."

On Campbell:

- Of the three Republicans, Campbell is by far the most socially liberal - he calls himself libertarian - and the only one who opposed Proposition 8. His positioning on social and fiscal issues probably aligns him most closely with many of the potential voters and donors from Silicon Valley whom Whitman and Poizner are competing for.

If anyone takes seriously the internal campaign memos being circulated by the gubernatorial teams for Republicans Meg Whitman and Steve Poizner, they might conclude that neither of these Silicon Valley titans has a chance of victory.

At least, that is the point that each side is trying to drive home about the other.

According to a memo today by Whitman campaign consultants Henry Gomez and Jeff Randle, Poizner is simply going nowhere in this race.

"There are several early indications that Steve Poizner's candidacy is not viable," the team Whitman memo reads. "In a span of a single-campaign reporting period, Steve Poizner, the race's early entrant, has gone from being the whispered frontrunner to a candidate who is struggling to keep valuable endorsements, articulate a message and raise the resources necessary to compete."

On June 30, Poizner's campaign manager Jim Bognet sent his team a missive that declared that "Whitman's campaign clearly lacks confidence in its candidate.

"Her handlers go to great lengths to shield her from press interviews," Bognet writes. "...If a candidate can't handle some basic questions from the Bakersfield Californian, then they are going to have a very tough time going toe-to-toe with Jerry Brown. It's just that simple."

A safe bet is that each camp is firing up the already converted and mapping out a political business plan for would-be donors and new recruits.

In Whitman's case, her team touts her contributions haul of $6.5 million (on top of $4 million from her own checkbook), support of big name pols from former Gov. Pete Wilson to former GOP nominee John McCain and backing of prominent fundraisers from John Chambers of Cisco Systems to Carol Bartz of Yahoo.

Team Poizner touts a "grass roots strategy" with support from nine former California Republican Party chairmen and members of local party committees "who influence the outcome of Republican primaries." Poizner, who has pumped $4.2 million of his own money into his campaign, has also raised another $1.2 million.

Despite each camp's claims that its rival is drowning politically, there will be millions of reasons - er, dollars - to ensure that each will be more than buoyant for considerable time to come.

Meg Whitman, the Republican candidate for governor, said today that her committee has raised more than $6.5 million since her campaign began earlier this year, while her top Democratic rival, Attorney General Jerry Brown, says he's banked a cool $7.3 million.

Whitman boasted that though she was the last Republican candidate to form an exploratory committee, she's ahead of her rivals and also claimed she has attracted contributions from every corner of California.  

The $6.5 million raised by Whitman's team is in addition to the $4 million of her own money that she has pumped into her campaign.

Team Whitman's spin: "This unprecedented outpouring of support for Meg confirms the demand for a new style of leadership that creates jobs, cuts wasteful spending, and effectively manages state government," said former Gov. Pete Wilson, Whitman's campaign chairman. "Meg's appeal reaches far beyond just traditional Republicans. She is attracting new donors and new voters to expand our party at a critical time ."  

Two new additions to San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom's gubernatorial campaign:

* Ricky Le, political director. Le most recently served as executive director of the California Democratic congressional delegation and was a senior adviser to Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-San Jose).

* Abbe Ross, chief operating officer. Ross directed operations in multiple states for Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign.

Already on the team:

* Garry South, senior adviser
* Eric Jaye, campaign director
* Nick Clemons, campaign manager
* Paige Barry, finance director
* Benenson Strategy Group, polling

Steve Poizner's gubernatorial campaign chairman, former state Senate Republican leader Jim Brulte, is taking a swipe at the idea that Meg Whitman's experience as chief executive officer of eBay qualifies her to be governor of California.

In a letter to legislators backing Poizner, Brulte says of Whitman: "Though she has much to offer, her campaign is once again proving why first time candidate business executives never win."

Brulte adds: "Like Democrat Steve Westly, Meg is running based on her experience at eBay. Voters were unmoved by the millions of dollars Westly spent touting eBay's success (in a 2006 gubernatorial run)...as Republicans will be too. Voters simply don't buy the connection that running an online auction company is the best training ground for our next governor. And never in modern history has there been a worse time to be running on the 'corporate CEO' brand."

But it is not as if Poizner hasn't run on his own corporate brand.

In 2006, he pitched his business acumen to win election as state insurance commissioner, five years after selling his SnapTrak Inc. -- a developer of global positioning technology for cellphones -- for $1 billion.

In the battle of Silicon Valley billionaires, Team Whitman spokesman Mitch Zak responded to Brulte's missive by touting her endorsements and business savvy.

"I think Pete Wilson would disagree with his friend Jim Brulte strongly. So would John McCain. So would Mitt Romney," Zak said. "These folks all know what it takes to be leaders in government and are convinced Meg Whitman would be the best choice. She's helped create millions of jobs and build organizations. If they're interested in a side-by-side, Steve Poizner vs. Meg Whitman, we'll take that discussion every day of the week and twice on Sunday."

Antonio Villaraigosa's decision to honor his L.A. mayoral gig and not to run for governor had just given Gavin Newsom a chance to own the stage as the new generation challenger to likely Democratic favorite Jerry Brown.

And yet the San Francisco mayor seemed melancholy when asked at a Tuesday presser in the City about his L.A. colleague.

"I called him yesterday and obviously it was a tough decision for him to make," Newsom said of Villaraigosa, a veteran lawmaker and former Assembly speaker. "...In spite of some of the punditry, Antonio Villaraigosa and I have always gotten along and I admire his stewardship and his commitment. He has been in office for decades and has served, I think, very, very well."

Newsom, who said he was "surprised, but not shocked" by Villaraigosa's announcement demurred on whether he thought he now has a better chance of getting elected governor with the L.A. mayor out of the race.

"People like me should not answer those questions," Newsom said.

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa will announce his gubernatorial plans at 1 p.m. today on CNN -- at least that's what Wolf Blitzer and his people think.

CNN's publicity machine asid Villaraigosa will make the call on Blitzer's "The Situation Room."

Villaraigosa's spokesman told the AP that the mayor indeed would appear on the show.

State Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner has bolstered his gubernatorial campaign team by hiring three campaign veterans who worked for GOP presidential candidates John McCain, Mitt Romney and Rudy Giuliani.

Audrey Perry, hired as Poizner's new deputy campaign manager, is a Georgetown University law graduate who served as campaign finance counsel for McCain-Palin 2008 and as deputy counsel for the Romney for president campaign.

Poizner's new gubernatorial campaign policy director Lanhee Chen is a Harvard law graduate who served as the domestic policy director for Romney's White House bid.

New Poizner communications director Jarrod Agen was the California spokesman and western regional communications coordinator for the Giuliani for president campaign.

The three new hires join a Poizner-for-governor team that includes campaign chairman and former state Senate Republican leader Jim Brulte, political strategist Stuart Stevens of The Stevens and Schriefer Group, campaign manager Jim Bognet, finance director Julie Westlake and senior adviser Kevin Spillane.

First, Attorney General Jerry Brown, who used to be California governor, stridently announced in a fundraising e-mail that California's budget mess is causing him to "think seriously about running for governor again." Translation: You can count on it.

Now, the campaign manager for Mayor Gavin Newsom, who's already declared his candidacy, is seeking to raise fundage by selling "glimmers of hope from San Francisco" as an antidote for "the terrible news from Sacramento."

In a memo called "Why We Organize," Newsom for California director Eric Jaye pitches Newsom's "smart budgeting" as mayor in dealing with San Francisco's own fiscal crisis.

Jaye also sells Newsom's role in helping implement universal health care in San Francisco and links to a Newsom interview on MSNBC.

The MSNBC host charitably bills Newsom's on-going work on the Healthy San Francisco program as a model for Washington.

Newsom, who's trying to become the first San Francisco mayor elected governor of California since James "Sunny Jim" Rolph in 1930, will likely be happy enough just making it to Sacramento.

In interviews with political scribes ever ready to report on his expected encore bid for governor in 2010, Jerry Brown routinely lets it be known that he just might stick around for another term as attorney general.

But in a recent fundraising letter, Brown treads into perhaps his most serious discussion on returning to Sacramento to take charge once again.

"I like my current job and truly believe we are getting important things done," Brown says in the letter. "Yet, when I see the mess in Sacramento and think about all the people who are suffering as a result, I think seriously about running for governor again. It is rather amazing that the same issues are still front and center: water, energy, prisons, education and, of course, living within our means."

And so Brown seeks donations to "build a movement - of truth, of creativity, of inclusion."

He warns of "well-funded Republicans" (that would mean Silicon Valley billionaires Meg Whitman and Steve Poizner) "spending their own wealth on hundred million dollar plus campaigns" that threaten "a hostile takeover of the airwaves during the next governor's campaign."

He also talks about his former days as governor when "the schools were good" and "the state wasn't broke."

But he demurs on jumping in just yet.

"Before I make a final decision, I would like to know if it's possible to build a large base of supporters from every part of the state and even beyond," Brown writes.

He adds: "Whether I seek re-election as attorney general or the governorship, I intend to do everything I can to turn this state around."

It seems like a pretty safe bet that it won't be as attorney general.

The campaign of Republican gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman trotted out a new endorsement Monday -- Orange County Rep. John Campbell. That's not exactly news, except for the fact that Campbell previously endorsed another GOP candidate -- Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner.

Here's what Campbell said in a Whitman press release today:

"Meg Whitman is the best candidate to effectively manage our state, establish fiscal discipline in Sacramento and usher in the pro-growth tax relief our economy desperately needs."

Here's what Campbell said in a Poizner press release on Dec. 19:

"Steve is the right man at the right time for California. As our nation grapples with so many complex and difficult issues, we need leaders like Steve who have the ability to develop innovative solutions."

So what gives?

It seems that Campbell has had a change of heart and now thinks that Whitman is the right woman at the right time.

"Meg Whitman was not in the race when Congressman Campbell endorsed Steve Poizner, and at the time, he had not even met her," explained Campbell's spokesman Brent Hall. "He withdrew his endorsement of Steve Poizner in January and has remained neutral until now."

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa may be unwilling to totally kill off speculation he is going to run for governor. But a vote by the United States Conference of Mayors today suggests that he has other plans.

In the mayors' national convention in Providence, Villaraigosa was elected as the organization's second vice-president for 2009-2010. Under the guidelines of the Conference, he would then become first vice-president in 2010-2011 and president of the organization in 2011-2012.

"Everybody understands that once you get elected, you automatically move up," said Elena Temple, communications director for the U.S. Conference of Mayors.

There may still be time for Villaraigosa to bolt the gig. But some political consultants privately suggest that Villaraigosa has already waited too long to raise enough money to kick off a gubernatorial run. His election by Conference of Mayors will only increase talk that he is not interested in moving up in California.

His new mayoral duties come after a Sacramento television reporter asked Villaraigosa at a Capitol press conference last week whether another dating relationship with a Los Angeles television anchor - though not as a married man this time - could impact any future gubernatorial plans.

"I don't think it is going to have any impact whatsoever," Villaraigosa answered crisply.

Later, in an interview, Villaraigosa said he was too centered on Los Angeles' fiscal crisis and his civic responsibilities to worry about the next political step or even a time frame for making a decision.

"Right now, I'm not focusing on the governor's race whatsoever," he said.

Sooner or later, people may start to believe him.

Attorney General Jerry Brown should immediately return $52,500 in campaign contributions he's received from relatives and a company of two men his office is investigating in the public pension fund corruption probe, Steve Poizner's gubernatorial campaign said today.

"Brown's unethical conduct and arrogance undermines the credibility and integrity of the Attorney General's office and is a disservice to the civil service professionals who seek to serve the people of California,"  the Poizner for Governor campaign said in a statement.

Poizner's campaign was reacting to a story in today's Bee. Click here to read it.

Brown's spokesman Scott Gerber told The Bee on Tuesday that the attorney general had no intention of returning the campaign contributions. 

John J. Pitney Jr., a political scientist, said Tuesday the campaign contributions may become a problem for Brown, but ethics expert Robert Stern said he wasn't as troubled as Pitney.

To back its own call for Brown to return the donations, Poizner's campaign cited past statements Brown has made about campaign contributions and their influence on him.  

A new communications launch is readying for Meg Whitman's gubernatorial team.

Look for Tucker Bounds, the former chief spokesman for John McCain's presidential campaign, to head a list of new hires for an amped up Whitman communications squad.

The Meg communications effort 2.0 will likely be unveiled sometime this week when team Whitman opens a new campaign headquarters in Cupertino.

Whitman's team already includes Sacramento's Randle Communications (and capital-based senior strategist Rob Stutzman with Navigators Global), Former San Jose Mercury News political scribe Mary Anne Ostrom also recently signed on with Whitman's communications team.

Ever since Gavin Newsom opened San Francisco's City Hall to same-sex weddings in 2004, he hasn't shied away from the political, legal and social firestorm he helped fuel.

Yet the San Francisco mayor's gubernatorial campaign has also been working doggedly to shed his single-issue candidate persona. Newsom and his handlers have tried to advance his image as a "hard-headed pragmatist" who gets things done, who reshaped San Francisco with green buildings and new housing and now is making tough city budget choices amid California's fiscal crisis.

But when the California Supreme Court affirmed the Proposition 8 ban on gay marriage --while preserving 18,000 same-sex marriages already performed -- Newsom retook center stage on the issue. And despite a renewed flurry of news stories speculating whether he can define himself more broadly, his campaign increasingly sees the marriage issue as a winner in the Democratic primary.

"We're not backing away from the issue," Newsom's senior campaign adviser, Garry South, said today. "Newsom has made it clear over and over again that he will stand where he is on same-sex marriage. In the Democratic primary, this is an issue that I think will propel him to victory. Far from shying away from it, it is a major, major part of who he is and who he will be as governor."

On the day of the Supreme Court ruling, Newsom appeared nationally on CNN's Larry King to declare that the court's support for legal civil unions is not enough. "Separate is not equal," he said of the marriage debate. "A word does matter."

South argues that will be particularly true in the Democratic primary, where Newsom's stand may give him sway with Democrats who voted 68 percent to 34 percent against Proposition 8 -- which passed statewide 52 percent to 48 percent. He will likely compare his standing on the issue with that of Attorney General and former Gov. Jerry Brown, who filed unsuccessful court briefs arguing that Proposition 8 violated an "inalienable right to liberty" under the state constitution.

The Newsom camp is clearly wagering that the mayor will have more street cred in the primary as the man who took on the gay marriage issue first -- and longest. It also making another, perhaps riskier, calculation that the issue won't hurt him if he becomes a general election candidate.

South points to a 2008 CNN post-election poll that showed independent voters opposing Prop 8, 54 percent to 46 percent. The way his political theory plays out is that a Republican gubernatorial candidate needs 60 percent of California's "decline to state" vote in order to win in the blue state.

"It's pretty hard to see how you're are going to do that if you are demagoguing on same-sex marriage," South said.

Meanwhile, the issue may prove tricky in the Republican primary because none of the current GOP candidates is staking out a position clearly in concert with social conservatives.

Meg Whitman, who supported Prop 8, also said the same-sex marriages performed before the initiative's passage should stand. Whitman and Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner -- who also supported the gay marriage ban -- back civil unions, a position still out of touch with many conservatives. And Campbell took an even greater risk with Republicans voters, who overwhelmingly supported Prop 8. Shorly before the election, he penned an editorial calling for a "no" vote, declaring that "discrimination at any level is bad for business."

But whether Proposition 8 is good for gubernatorial politics is a question soon to be answered.

Arizona Sen. John McCain, who during his presidential campaign called Meg Whitman one of the three wisest people he would turn to for counsel, came to California today stumping for Whitman's campaign for governor.

"I think Meg Whitman represents everything that is necessary in America," McCain said as the pair appeared together in Tustin. He said her election as California's first female governor could revigorate a Republican party trying to reflect an image of inclusiveness and recapture its lost national standing.

Los Angeles KCAL-9 television aired this video clip.

It's official. Well, not yet.

The Associated Press is reporting that Meg Whitman, the former eBay chief who would be governor, will pick up Sen. John McCain's endorsement on Friday at an event in Orange County, according to Whitman spokesman Mitch Zak.

Whitman and McCain are scheduled to host a town hall meeting Friday morning at the Marconi Auto Museum in Tustin.

The Arizona senator, the press release says, "will also be making an announcement regarding the 2010 California gubernatorial election."

Maybe Whitman will also be saying more about her plans for the state work force -- and the political appointments that California governors get to make.

Star Republican Meg Whitman, who is considering a run for governor in 2010, is the subject of an enthusiastic cover story in the latest issue of The Weekly Standard.

We've all heard how she will chainsaw the state work force by between 30,000 and 40,000 jobs.

Now, she's talking about cutting the pork that goes part and parcel with winning the state's highest political office.

After saying that the governor has the power to make 4,000 political appointments to state boards and commissions, Whitman reportedly mused out loud:  "Think about that for a minute. I mean, 4,000 appointments? First of all, what do these people do? Maybe you only need 2,000."

Written by the conservative magazine's executive editor Fred Barnes, the report tells how Whitman wants to bring what she learned as the very successful chief executive of the Internet giant to state government in Sacramento.

Toward the end of the piece, Whitman also discusses how technology must be used to boost efficiency and improve operations. Yet, she says Sacramento, the state capital, "is the most inward looking place I've ever seen."
 
Noting that information technology, constantly updated, runs eBay's global empire, she laments the condition of the state's own tech infrastructure, saying  it's "stuck in 1982.  .  .  ."

" We run 17 financial systems at the state on 1982 Oracle financials. We don't actually know what the high school graduation rate is because we don't have the IT infrastructure that tracks the kids," she told Barnes.

Barnes speculates (rather wildly) that if Whitman can win and fix California, it won't be long before she makes a spirited run for the oval office.  To read the full story, click here.

Check out some video of the Steve Poizner/Tom Campbell debate at The Sacramento Press Club.

State Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner is letting Silicon Valley rival Meg Whitman have it for declining to show up at a May 18 Sacramento debate on the special election ballot initiatives.

"Will she debate? Will she speak out?" shouts a YouTube video that the Poizner campaign put out. The answer, in music from the classic hit, "Tell Her No," by the Zombies: "No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no!"

Whitman's spokesman Mitch Zak said the former eBay CEO passed on Poizner's invitation to debate the initiatives the day before the May 19 election because she considered it a pointless exercise. The Republican candidates -- including former Rep. Tom Campbell -- are in general agreement against the initiatives.

In response to Poizner's video, the Whitman camp accused Poizner of dragging his feet by failing to respond to her invitations for three future GOP primary debates.

"What to you want us to say? 'I'm more opposed to Proposition 1A than you are?' " Zak said of Poizner's special election invite. "If you really want to debate, let's do three -- Northern California, Southern California and the Central Valley -- and let's get them on the calendar."

Poizner spokesman Kevin Spillane said the Whitman campaign stance is "intellectually dishonest."

"If she's willing to debate she could join Tom Campbell and Steve Poizner next Monday at the Sacramento Press Club," Spillane said. "It's already on the schedule. It's time for Meg to stop dodging debates and ducking questions."

Meg Whitman's gubernatorial campaign remade her web page Sunday in honor of her 88-year-old mother, Margaret Whitman, and told the story of the American Red Cross volunteer who went to work as a mechanic on airplanes and trucks during World War II.

"Rosie the Riveter sort of paved the way for Meg the Manager," Meg Whitman says in the Mother's Day profile.

Margaret Whitman, who lives in Boston, was deployed to New Guinea for the Red Cross when she took on some additional responsibilities when she found out the military base needed mechanics.

"She'd never looked under the hood of a car or fixed anything with a wrench," Meg Whitman said in the profile. "But she knew that's where the critical need was and where she could make the biggest contribution. The learning curve didn't stall her, but in fact, if fueled her."

Meg Whitman, the former eBay CEO, is now dipping into her personal fortune to fuel her campaign for governor. Whitman on Thursday will speak to the Roseville Chamber of Commerce and field audience questions. She will appear at a private Sacramento event Wednesday night at the home of Bob White, chief of staff for ex-Gov. Pete Wilson. Also in attendance will be the former governor.

On The Capitol Hour With Eric Hogue today, the excitement over a potential Tom McClintock bid for governor cascaded over the airwaves like splashing whitewater from a heavy Sierra snow melt.

"This could be the positive, perfect storm for the conservatives," Hogue said as he opened his noon-1 p.m. program. He fired up listeners on "intelligent conservative talk" KTKZ AM 1380 over internet chatter suggesting that 4th District Rep. McClintock may indeed contemplate a 2010 run against perceived party moderates Meg Whitman and Steve Poizner.

Hogue said three sources told him that polling for the race is underway on McClintock's behalf.

But then McClintock doused the story.

"I just want to make it very clear that there is absolutely no truth whatsoever to any rumor I am considering running for governor," he said in a phone call to Capitol Alert. "I have not done any polling and I have not wavered from my position that, if nominated, I will not run and, if elected, I will not serve. I don't know how I can make it any plainer or clearer than that."

Oh, well.

At least Hogue and his listeners could dream for an hour as the host carefully laid out his "perfect storm" scenario for a McClintock assent:

1. McClintock is finally able to raise significant dollars due to connections from his congressional perch.

2. The GOP base is riled up over the California fiscal crisis and is ready to turn to its conservative lion.

3. The Democrats will likely nominate Jerry Brown in "the return of Moonbeam."

"If you want stark contrasts you would have it in Tom vs. Jerry," Hogue said.

The host insists it would make a great political show for California.

The only drawback is that McClintock insists he's not tuning in.

Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner on Thursday challenged his two GOP rivals, Tom Campbell and Meg Whitman, to debate the May 19 budget ballot measures.

"Surely all three of us can spare an hour for each debate in order to better inform the voters about both our individual positions but also the ballot measures," Poizner wrote of his two proposed hour-long debates in San Francisco and Los Angeles.

Campbell, a former state budget director and member of Congress, heartily accepted.

"I enthusiastically look forward to the opportunity to debate both Meg Whitman and Steve Poizner on these important ballot measures," he replied, challenging his opponents to detail "what they propose as a realistic solution to our budget crisis if they oppose" the measures.

Campbell supports Propositions 1A, 1D and 1E.

Whitman declined the invite. "Given the fact that we both stand strongly in opposition to Propositions 1A, 1B, and 1C ‐- the most critical of the Special Election measures -‐ and considering that the California Republican Party shares this position, I think we can do more for California by continuing to speak out across the state against these measures," she wrote to Poizner, ignoring the fact that Campbell supports 1A.

So will Poizner and Campbell just debate each other? A hearty, yes, says Poizner spokesman Kevin Spillane.

"We will gladly debate Tom Campbell even if Meg Whitman is uninterested in sharing her views with the people of California," said Spillane, adding that Poizner opposes all the measures "on principle," calling them a bad "backroom deal."

No date has been set. Here are their positions:

Whitman
1A Oppose
1B Oppose
1C Oppose
1D Support
1E Support
1F Support

Campbell
1A Support
1B Oppose
1C Oppose
1D Support
1E Support
1F Oppose

Poizner
1A Oppose
1B Oppose
1C Oppose
1D Oppose
1E Oppose
1F Oppose

Republican gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman has a video on her web page for a brand new political product she calls MEGa WOMEN.

It may sound like a vitamin supplement. But Whitman hopes it is the start of an empowerment movement for women - one that may help her become the first woman to secure a Republican gubernatorial nomination in California.

Whitman's campaign said she is forming a panel of women "from the worlds of politics, education, business, philanthropy and the arts" to participate in interactive forums and town hall discussions on solving California's challenges.

She has named two Republican women to lead the "coalition." Jillian Manus, president of Manus & Associates Media and Literary Agency in Palo Alto is new MEGa WOMEN chair. Julie Vandermost, CEO of Vandermost Consulting Service, an environmental firm in Orange County, is the new "grassroots coordinator."

Other advisors to Whitman's women's advisory group include former lawmaker and state education secretary Marian Bergeson, Rep. Mary Bono Mack, Assemblywoman Connie Conway, Sacramento County District Attorney Jan Scully, former Ambassador Susan McCaw, former Assemblywomen Sharon Runner and Charlene Zettel, Orange County Supervisor Janet Nguyen, San Diego County Supervisor Dianne Jacob and Silicon Valley venture capitalist Heidi Roizen.

My colleague Peter Hecht has posted a story on sacbee.com about the two contrasting speeches by San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom and Attorney General Jerry Brown this morning to the California Democratic Party convention.

Brown spoke without a script, while Newsom's speech was pre-written.

Here's a copy of Newsom's speech, as prepared:

Past and would-be future Gov. Jerry Brown is holding fast to his insistence that -- like former California Gov. Earl Warren -- he won't announce any election bid until after the first fall or winter snowfall in the Sierra.

But with San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom formally announcing for the 2010 race on Tuesday, veteran Democratic Party sage John Burton stopped Brown in a bustling corridor at the state party convention in Sacramento today and asked what he should be telling friends about Brown's aspirations.

"John, tell them you can speak confidently because you know the family," Brown told him. "And they like to run for governor."

So, unless there is searing drought in the Sierra, it looks like he's in.

San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, who stirred California's battle over gay marriage by opening City Hall to same-sex weddings in 2004, is suggesting another front in the marriage fight.

Newsom told attendees at a gay and lesbian political caucus at the state Democratic Party's annual convention today that he wants the U.S. Census to count same-sex couples who say they are married.

"When we go out and do the Census, people are going to be asked if they are married and same-sex couples will say, 'Yes,' " said Newsom, a newly minted candidate for governor. "And when the Census people analyze the data and go back to their computers they'll say, 'No.'

"The gay and lesbian community will not be counted unless we also fight for that change."

Here's Rex Babin's latest cartoon:

Related: Speaking of which, I'm Twittering all weekend about the California Democratic Party convention.

A private poll gives Attorney General Jerry Brown a 2-to-1 lead over San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom in the early race for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination.

The poll, conducted by Tulchin Research on behalf of the Acosta Salazar political consultants in Sacramento, showed Brown with a 31 percent to 16 percent lead over Newsom. Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa was third with 12 percent in the survey of 472 likely Democratic primary voters.

A couple thousand California Democratic Party delegates and guests descend on Sacramento today for the party's three-day annual convention.

The party's conference committee will begin tackling difficult internal political questions this afternoon over whether Democrats will officially endorse six May 19 special election measures. To get the party endorsement, the measures need to win a 60 percent vote in a Sunday floor session.

Capitol Alert's Shane Goldmacher, meanwhile, will be at the convention and updating via Twitter.

San Francisco Mayor and gubernatorial hopeful Gavin Newsom and past and would-be future Gov. Jerry Brown will be working supporters and firing up party activists while dropping in on afternoon caucus sessions.

Former state controller and 2006 gubernatorial candidate Steve Westly will address an Internet technology session. Newsom will also speak at a private luncheon with the Truman Democratic Club of Sacramento. And both Brown and Newsom will be featured speakers on Saturday.

Meanwhile, Los Angeles Mayor and likely 2010 gubernatorial candidate Antonio Villaraigosa has left word that he's skipping the whole event. His campaign advisers passed along a city press release explaining why the mayor is booked:

"Mayor Villaraigosa today announced that he will convene emergency weekend meetings with union leaders to tackle the City's budget crisis. Talks will focus on ways to close a $530 million budget deficit through shared sacrifice and shared responsibility. The Mayor will begin meetings in City Hall with labor leaders on Friday evening and will continue through the weekend.

"It is imperative that we act now to save jobs and protect services here in Los Angeles. That's why I'm meeting with our City union leaders," Villaraigosa said."We're going to brew a pot of coffee and roll up our sleeves to get it done."

Meanwhile, there will be Democratic Partying in Sacramento.

POLL: A private poll is giving Brown a 2-to-1 lead over Newsom in the early race for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination.

Republican gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman won't be speaking at UCLA.

And whether that is news or no news depends on the eye of the beholder -- or the beholder's politics.

The basic facts are this:

1. UCLA's Anderson School of Management invited Whitman, the billionaire former eBay CEO, to be its commencement speaker.

2. Some gay and lesbian students and alumni complained, citing Whitman's support of Proposition 8, the November initiative that banned same-sex marriage.

3. Whitman declined the invitation, citing scheduling conflicts.

The political speak offers two options:

1. Whitman's cancellation was a victory for the marriage equality blogosphere. One blog on the Equality California network celebrated the no-show by the "Prop 8 pusher."

This came after Don Haisch, president of the UCLA Anderson Gay and Lesbian Business Alumni protested that the invitation of Whitman "lends support to her view that members of the gay and lesbian community are undeserving of equal treatment under the law."

2. Whitman gets lots of speaking engagements and simply passed because she couldn't fit this one into her schedule. Her campaign spokesman, Mitch Zak, said: "We just declined it because it didn't work out. We get a ton of invitations as you know."

The Whitman campaign said she was never a part of the Prop 8 campaign but disclosed a few days before the election she would vote "yes" on the initiative. Zak pointed out that Whitman supports allowing gay parents to adopt and doesn't believe California should void the thousands of gay marriages already on the books.

So take your pick.

Tom Campbell, the former state budget director and Republican congressman exploring a bid for Congress, recognizes that he's financially overmatched against his mega-rich opponents Steve Poizner and Meg Whitman.

But, in an interview with ABC News, he sees a path to victory in the GOP primary.

"A three-way race is exceptionally more achievable," Campbell said.

And he's looking to the 1998 campaign of Gray Davis -- who sneaked past his better funded opponents who pummeled one another.

"I have precedent for that. It is somewhat ironic. It is Gray Davis beating Al Checchi and Jane Harman in 1998," Campbell said.

San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom is no longer flirting with a run for governor of California -- he's officially in.

The 41-year old mayor announced his bid through Twitter, Facebook and YouTube, a sign the mayor intends to make his next-generation appeal a centerpiece of the 2010 campaign.

"I'm a candidate for governor of California because I know we can do better," Newsom says looking straight into the camera in his YouTube announcement video.

The two-term mayor will tour Facebook's headquarters later this afternoon. Newsom has already being "followed" on Twitter by nearly 275,000 people as he has been criss-crossing the state for townhall-style meetings in the last few months. His campaign hopes his new media announcement will directly reach a half-million people by the day's end.

Newsom is the second Democrat to officially join what's expected to be a crowded Democratic field in 2010 to replace the termed-out Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Lt. Gov. John Garamendi is an announced candidate and Attorney General Jerry Brown is widely expected to run. Other potential candidates include Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein.

Garamendi, however, is also considering running for a soon-to-be vacant Bay Area congressional seat.

On the Republican side, there are three major contenders exploring runs: former Rep. Tom Campbell, Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner and former eBay CEO Meg Whitman.

Photo: San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom speaks to over 150 people gathered in the library of Redwood High School in Larkspur, Calif. on Monday, December 1, 2008. Credit: AP/IJ photo/Alan Dep.

Delegates at this weekend's state California Democratic Party convention in Sacramento are getting a special invitation from Jerry Brown.

Brown will offer tours of the historic state governor's mansion, where his family lived when his father - Pat Brown - was California's governor.

For his part, Jerry Brown chose an apartment across from the Capitol when he was governor.

Now the man with a penchant for austerity is showing a sensitivity to hard economic times. He's billing the mansion tour as the "Recession Reception."

Here's is Brown's e-mail invite:

From: Jerry Brown To: Sent: Friday, April 17, 2009 2:16:34 PM Subject: Join me at a "Recession Reception" - Preview

Fellow Democrat,

Just to let you know there will be a Recession Reception at the historic Governor's Mansion at 1526 H Street in downtown Sacramento on Saturday April 25th from 5:30pm to 7:00pm. Besides a couple kegs of beer, chips and salsa, I'll be there to show you around. You may remember, my father was the last governor to live there.

Hope to see you at the convention.

With Respect,

Jerry

Gavin Newsom likes to tell the story of the stunned reaction of his father when he told him in 2004 that he was going to open San Francisco City Hall to gay marriage.

On Sunday night, the San Francisco mayor and gubernatorial candidate told an audience of Placer County Democrats how he emerged as a political lightning rod for the same sex marriage issue.

But on this occasion, Newson's dad, county resident and retired state appellate justice William Newsom, was on hand to verify his son's story. In an interview, he also discussed his own difficult awakening on the issue.

Speaking to about 300 people at the Blue Goose Fruit Shed in Loomis, Newsom, the son, said he decided to do something about gay marriage after hearing President Bush declare his support for a national constitutional amendment to ban same-sex weddings.

He said he called his father in the historic Placer County mining town of Dutch Flat and described his plan to allow San Francisco City officials to marry a lesbian couple. Newson said he intended to grant a marriage license to Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon, a couple of 51 years, to force a test case on the issue.

As the young mayor from the traditonal Irish Catholic family telephoned his father, Gavin Newsom said, he felt a chill from the other end of the call.

"When I called my Dad and said guess what we're doing?...I'm not sure that went over that well," Newsom told the Loomis crowd. "At least it didn't sound like it on the other side of the phone. It wasn't an easy thing to do."

In an interview, William Newsom, said he was indeed taken aback. He said his son challenged his personal beliefs - as well as those passed down by his late father, William Newsom Sr., a San Francisco developer, close confidant of former Gov. Pat Brown and devout Catholic.

"My mind was closed," William Newsom said in an interview. "I'm from an Irish Catholic family. My father was a bit nonplussed about this. And I was too."

But he said over the next year or so, his son changed his mind about gay marriage and he came to see it as a matter of equal rights.

"It took awhile," the elder Newsom said. "He changed my mind on it, not by arguing, but he made me think about it....I gradually came around to his point of view. I wasn't prepared for it. But over the last year or so, I've come fully on board."

Gavin Newsom told the crowd that he thought there would be only one same-sex marriage at San Francisco City Hall. The plan was for the city to then sue the state of California to overturn California's ban on gay weddings.

But in February and March of 2004, the city and county of San Francisco went on to issue marriage licenses to some 4,000 gay couples, drawing worldwide attention to the issue and triggering intense political and legal battles in California.

It was a tough sell in Dutch Flat, where William Newsom has lived since the early 1970s.

"A lot of folks are a little nervous about that son of Bill Newsom, that San Francisco mayor," Gavin Newsom said.

But the younger Newsom is a regular in the small Sierra town. After his parents divorced when he was child, he shuttled between his mother's home in Marin County and his father's house in Dutch Flat.

"The reality is that I grew up in Dutch Flat," Newsom said. "I grew up at Dingus McGee's restaurant. I grew up watching the 4th of July parade every year. If any of you haven't been to the 4th of July parade in Dutch Flat, you don't know what you're missing.

"And if you do miss the floats, don't worry because they go by about a dozen times. It's a pretty small town, and it's a pretty small parade."

Gavin Newsom's gubernatorial road show hits one of California's reddest counties on Sunday.

The San Francisco mayor goes live in Placer County at the county Democratic Party's Jefferson Jackson Dinner. The $30-per-person fundraiser runs from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Blue Goose Fruit Shed, 3550 Taylor Road in Loomis.

Newsom's appearance comes after fellow Democrat Charlie Brown narrowly lost last November to Republican Tom McClintock in the historically conservative 4th Congressional District, which extends from Placer and El Dorado counties to the Oregon border. Brown is also expected to attend the event.

Newsom campaign manager Eric Jaye said the mayor intends to campaign in all 58 California counties. "He is not looking at a red California or a blue California. He'll be in every part," Jaye said.

Meg Whitman, the billionaire former CEO of eBay, has added another $2.8 million to her campaign war chest for governor, according to campaign filings made late Thursday.

The Republican ex-businesswoman has now donated a total of $4 million to her campaign.

The Contra Costa Times reports that in a local forum on Thursday Lt. Gov. John Garamendi "all but declared his candidacy" for Congress to fill the soon-to-be vacant seat of Rep. Ellen Tauscher.

Garamendi delivered a short but eloquent speech to several dozen members of the Contra Costa Democratic Central Committee in what turned out to be an impromptu candidates forum with two of the lieutenant governor's potential challengers.

"A lot of you have told me that this congressional district is where I should run, that I have the experience and the background to have an impact in Washington, D.C.," Garamendi said. "So, we're considering it. I'd like to seriously consider it, too."

He made no mention of his gubernatorial campaign during the roughly 20 minutes he spoke.

Meanwhile, Capitol Weekly, without citing any source, reported on Thursday that Garamendi "is getting ready to jump into the Congressional race."

Garamendi is currently running for governor but trails badly in the polls. Should he run for Congress he would face Democratic Sen. Mark DeSaulnier of Concord, who has already declared, and potentially Assemblywoman Joan Buchanan, D-Alamo, who is mulling a run.

With still more than 400 days until votes are cast, the GOP primary for governor is already starting to get dirty.

The campaign of Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner on Thursday accused his rival, former eBay chief Meg Whitman, "of a disastrous record of fiscal mismanagement."

It's extraordinarily early for such sharp campaigning, but with an open seat in 2010 as Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger leaves office, the two wealthy Republicans are already jockeying for position.

"It's the first rain drop in what's going to be a very, very long storm," said Dan Schnur, the director of the Jesse Unruh Institute of Politics at the University of Southern California.

Both Whitman, a billionaire, and Poizner, who sold a company for $1 billion in 2000, have already established campaign operations a full 14 months ahead of the June 2010 primary. Tom Campbell, a former Republican congressman, is also exploring a run for governor but is uninvolved in this first intra-party scuffle.

The accusation arrived in the form of a prepared release from Team Poizner whacking Whitman's record at eBay, more specifically the $2.6 billion purchase of Skype, an Internet phone service provider, made under her leadership in 2005.

EBay announced this week it plans to unload Skype, which has shrunk in value - as evidenced by a $1.4 billion write-down - ever since the purchase.

"Now Meg Whitman is asking Californians to send her to Sacramento to clean up another multibillion dollar budget deficit," said Poizner spokesman Kevin Spillane in the release. "If past performance is indicative of future results, Californians can't afford Meg Whitman's disastrous record of fiscal mismanagement."

The release, which is headlined "SKYPE - YIPES!," included a recent Fortune magazine cover photo of Whitman and a horse and began, "Whoa! Hold your horses!"

Schnur, also a former GOP strategist, said, "Kevin Spillane is smart enough to know that no normal person will be paying attention to this primary ... but it looks like they are taking the first step toward trying to establish a drumbeat of criticism over the next months" of Whitman's record at eBay.

Mitch Zak, a Whitman campaign spokesman, dismissed the criticism.

"I would tell you that California absolutely needs somebody who knows how to create jobs and manage complex organizations," Zak said, citing eBay's growth under Whitman from "30 employees and $4 million in revenues ... to 15,000 employees and $8 billion revenues."

Zak tried to shift the debate to his candidate's successes. "I think that (Poizner's attack) shows clearly Meg's strength, momentum and the fact that Meg has been aggressively travelling up and down the state earning endorsements, raising money and building the infrastructure necessary to win the primary and general election."

Or it just shows that the campaigning has just begun.

Photo: State Insurance Comissioner Steve Poizner at The Sacramento Bee Capitol Bureau on Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2009. Credit: Randall Benton/Sacramento Bee.

In an interview with the Associated Press, Jerry Brown, California's attorney general and likely 2010 candidate for governor, talked about his pursuit of the state's top job -- the one he held for eight years decades ago.

The quote of the story was Brown criticizing his rival, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom:

Brown is quick to reject comparisons to Hillary Clinton, whose presidential bid foundered last year after rival Barack Obama framed her candidacy as a relic of the past. "Newsom is trying to make everyone think I'm Hillary, and he's Obama, but those analogies just don't work," Brown said of his Democratic rival.

A group called the Latino Water Coalition will lead a four-day "California March for Water" starting today in Mendota.

They got a boost in their hopes for a water package from none other than Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Monday, who during an appearance in Fresno proclaimed that the state's leaders were "literally a few weeks away, maybe a month, from coming to an agreement."

"So Democrats and Republicans have come a long way," Schwarzenegger said. "I think we are literally a few weeks away, maybe a month, from coming to an agreement."

That might be a bit of classic Schwarzenegger overstatement from the notoriously optimistic governor.

"This is the year to make a huge breakthrough on water in California," said Alicia Trost, a spokeswoman for Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, when told of the governor's remarks.

"The year" and "a few weeks," of course, are not the same thing.

Sen. Dave Cogdill, the Senate Republicans' lead water negotiator, was even more skeptical, telling my colleague E.J. Schultz of the Fresno Bee that, "Many people are saying this will even carry on into next year."

GOVERNOR 2010: Political fundraising is a breeze when you're really rich.

Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner reported cutting his campaign for a governor a check for $200,000 on Monday. He last contributed $500,000 on Dec. 31.

SUPERINTENDENT 2010: There's a new entrant in the race for superintendent of public instruction in 2010. (That's when the incumbent, Jack O'Connell, terms out.)

On Monday, Larry Aceves, a former school administrator in districts from San Diego to San Jose, tossed his hat into the ring.

Aceves, the former president of the Association of California School Administrators, announced the endorsement of ... the Association of California School Administrators' executive director, Bob Wells.

Aceves, a Democrat, joins two other Democrats in the race, Assemblyman Tom Torlakson and Sen. Gloria Romero.

Officially, the state's schools chief is a nonpartisan post.

The gubernatorial campaign of former eBay CEO Meg Whitman has hired Silicon Valley's top political writer.

Mary Anne Ostrom, a longtime politics and government reporter for the San Jose Mercury News, signed on with team Whitman. In a memo to the Merc staff, Assistant Managing Editor Bert Robinson lamented the loss of a journalistic pro who "is one of the most relentless, most thorough, most passionate reporters I have ever known."

Whitman campaign spokesman Mitch Zak said Ostrom will be an adviser on policy, media and on-line outreach. "Obviously, Mary Anne has tremendous experience and will play an senior role in our communications effort," he said.

Ostrom's new gig was another blow to California's dwindling political press corps. Respected politics veteran John Wildermuth of the San Francisco Chronicle is taking a buyout. Zachary Coile of the Chronicle's Washington bureau is going to work as communications director for U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer. And Jordan Rau, state capitol reporter for the Los Angeles Times, has signed on with the Kaiser Family Foundation's new Kaiser Health News.

Yes, you read that right. Georges Marciano, who co-founded the high-end jeans company in the early 1980s along with his brothers, says he's seeking California's highest office, not as a Democrat or Republican, but as an independent.

"Let's dream again, let's not give up hope instead we together can create jobs for the citizens of California instead of simply creating and imposing higher taxes for the average citizen and not the wealthy," Georges Marciano said in a prepared statement. "All of which are wasted dollars put in the greedy hands of a wasteful government."

His campaign spokesman, Rod Harrell, said that Marciano has been forced to deal with multiple government agencies in recent years and it has "come to light all the corruption in government and (the lack of) anyone actually caring about regular people."

Asked how Marciano might finance his run, Harrell said: "He is Georges Marciano. So he obviously has some money."

Indeed, in 2007 Marciano bought an 84.37 carat diamond at an auction for just under $16.2 million.

Marciano is not opting to run as part of a political party, Harrell said, because he "doesn't want any ties to anybody in the old political machine."

There's still no campaign Web site yet, but Harrell said, "We're still at the ground floor of the campaign."

Marciano does have a quirky Web site about art that was stolen from him. It includes a bio of himself.

Attorney General Jerry Brown, who is widely expected to seek the California governorship in 2010, turns 71 today.

Brown's long history (and old-guard age) are already at issue in the 2010 campaign.

Last week, the Steve Poizner for governor campaign sent out a sarcastic congratulations to Brown for his 40th anniversary in elective office.

"As Brown seeks his third term as Governor, the last forty years have changed California dramatically. But it seems Jerry hasn't. Professional politician Jerry Brown is always campaigning for another office," Team Poizner wrote.

Today, Garry South, a strategist for San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom's campaign, wrote on Facebook that he "wants to wish Jerry Brown a very happy 71st birthday today! Imagine being born when FDR was president!"

It's a slow week around the Capitol so let's check in on the 2010 governor's race.

In his Sunday column in the San Francisco Chronicle, Willie Brown wrote of a recent conversation he had with Antonio Villaraigoisa, the reelected mayor of Los Angeles and potential candidate for governor in 2010.

In it, Brown says Villaraigosa was touting a recent statewide poll showing him trailing Attorney General Jerry Brown by only 4 percentage points.

(That was the margin in the latest Field Poll, when Sen. Dianne Feinstein was not included.)

Poll results aside, the point is that Villaraigosa, who has declined to comment on his gubernatorial ambitions, is hawking the poll in the first place.

Meanwhile, The Bee's Peter Hecht profiled Anne Gust, the wife of Jerry Brown and one of his top advisers.

"If Jerry says he wants to give it all up and be a farmer, I'm fine with that," she said.

"I don't think he'll be a farmer," she added.

Lt. Gov. John Garamendi, meanwhile, could skip out on his bid for governor and instead run for Congress.

CalBuzz, the new California politics Web site by Jerry Roberts and Phil Trounstine, has a fun rundown likening each of the candidates for governor to a particular Silicon Valley company.

Jude Barry, who departed Lt. Gov. John Garamendi's campaign last week, authored the comparisons:

Jerry Brown is to Apple...as Gavin Newsom is to Facebook...as Antonio Villaraigosa is to Yahoo!...as John Garamendi is to Sun Microsystems...as Meg Whitman is to eBay...as Steve Poizner is to Intel....as Tom Campbell is to Wilson, Sonini, Goodrich, & Rosati.

Garamendi announced Monday that he had hired a new "messaging" consultant, Peter B. Collins, a liberal radio talk show host.

In the Los Angeles Times on Monday, Bill Whalen, a former speechwriter for ex-Gov. Pete Wilson, said GOP candidates Whitman and Poizner must get beyond trying to channel Ronald Reagan.

"For the same reason that the Dodgers showcase Manny Ramirez and not Kirk Gibson, California Republicans have to resist the urge to revisit the greatest hits of the 1980s and making the election a history lesson on "Morning in America." Save it for Lincoln Day dinners, not the campaign trail," Whalen wrote.

Whalen concluded:

As individuals whose run for office is financed by personal fortunes born of ingenuity rather than the GOP cliche of trust funds, Whitman and Poizner should leap at the chance to show they are reflective souls, not some manifestation of focus groups and hackneyed rhetoric or the product of political consultants.

To borrow very loosely from Reagan, taking such an approach might go a long way in tearing down the wall that keeps Republicans out of higher office in California.

In non-2010 news, Rep. Dan Lungren, R-Gold River, hosts his first town hall of 2009 in Gold River.

California Health and Human Services Agency Kim Belshé and Mark Horton, director of the California Department of Public Health, will release new data on smoking in the state and tout the benefits of the state's 20-year old tobacco control program in a morning press conference.

And the secretary of state's office today will conduct its random alphabet drawing to determine the ballot order for those lining up to replace Rep. Hilda Solis.

Photo: Los Angeles mayor Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa talks to the media in the spin room following the CNN/ Politico Democratic presidential debate between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton on Thursday Jan. 31, 2008. Credit: Brian Baer/Sacramento Bee.

Lt. Gov. John Garamendi, whose has found little traction in polls in his run for governor, is looking at a bid for Rep. Ellen Tauscher's soon-to-be vacant congressional seat.

The Contra Costa Times' Lisa Vorderbrueggen had the news over the weekend.

Garamendi called Rep. George Miller, D-Martinez, a few days ago, although the congressman offered little encouragement. Miller reiterated his unflagging support for state Sen. Mark DeSaulnier of Concord.

Wait, isn't Garamendi running for governor? Yeah, although reports of a faltering campaign circulated recently after one of his top campaign staffers quit.

In a statement late Friday, here is what Garamendi said: "A number of people suggested I consider this seat. Of course, I will check it out. As a former undersecretary of the interior, there is a lot of exciting work going on in Washington. Much is possible with Barack Obama.

"But I am focused on California and my campaign for governor."

Tom Campbell, a GOP candidate for governor and former state budget director, has announced how he'll be voting on the fiscal measures on the May 19 ballot:

Proposition 1A: Yes
Proposition 1B: No
Proposition 1C: No
Proposition 1D: Yes
Proposition 1E: Yes

Read his reasoning at the Fox and Hounds blog.

A. Jerrold "Jerry" Perenchio, the former chair of the Spanish-language station Univision, has donated the maximum $25,900 to GOP gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman.

Perenchio's wife Margaret did the same in donations reported late Tuesday.

Perenchio is a good deep-pocketed donor to have on your side. Last week, he chipped in $1.5 million to back the May special election measures pushed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and the legislative leadership.

It's no rivalry akin to the Giants and Dodgers. But San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom swooped into the potent Los Angeles media market last week and won a surge of coverage in airwaves and real estate typically dominated by L.A. mayor and potential gubernatorial rival Antonio Villaraigosa.

Newsom attracted a horde of news cameras and and dealt out a dozen interviews on St. Patrick's Day at a town hall meeting attended by 600 people in Santa Monica. "He turned out more people in Santa Monica than any of the Irish bars - and no green beer was required," said Newsom's exploratory campaign manager Eric Jaye.

Newsom was also feted at an L.A. fundraiser at the Pacific Palisades home of NBC-Universal exec Ben Silverman.

His reach into the Los Angeles market, where Villaraigosa enjoys overwhelming name recognition and strong Latino voter support, may be a key test for Newsom.

In a recent Field Poll of early voter preferences for the 2010 gubernatorial race, Newsom ranked third with 16 percent support to 22 percent for Villaraigosa and 26 percent for Attorney General and former Gov. Jerry Brown.

Villaraigosa, who was re-elected mayor against a field of unknowns March 3, has made no secret he is considering saddling up anew for a gubernatorial bid. But political observers say his 55 percent vote margin suggests that his home turf voters could be lacking in enthusiasm. Newsom won re-election in San Francisco in 2007 with 73 percent support.

For now, Jaye is playing down any Nor-Cal vs. So-Cal mayoral rivalry for the state's top job.

"Mayor Newsom is conducting conversations in counties all around California, including Los Angeles," Jaye said. "Mayor Villaraigosa is welcome to campaign in San Francisco if he gets into the race. It's all part of California."
.

Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner and former eBay boss Meg Whitman may be rivals for the Republican gubernatorial nomination next year, but there's no disagreement between the Silicon Valley denizens about Proposition 1A, one of a half-dozen budget-related measures on the May 19 special election.

Poizner and Whitman both oppose the measure, even though Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger says it is vital to straightening out the state's tortured finances by creating a rolling spending cap.

Whitman laid out her objections to Proposition 1A in a recent Sacramento Bee op-ed article, complaining that it would indirectly extend billions of dollars in state tax increases. Poizner's similar screed is contained in an article posted today on Flashreport, a conservative blog, to wit:

"Make no mistake: If they get away with their latest scheme it will cost you dearly.
Specifically, the politicians don't want you to know all the facts when it comes to Proposition 1A. This is the ballot measure that would impose a state constitutional spending limit - a concept that is supported by an overwhelming majority of Californians.
However, if the measure passes, it will also extend the huge tax increases recently approved by the legislature.

"Passage of Proposition 1A means that the near-doubling of the car tax, the 1 cent statewide sales tax increase, the income tax hike and the reduction in the dependent tax credit would continue for an additional two years. That adds up to an estimated $16 billion in higher taxes. It's no surprise these taxes are not supported by the majority of Californians.

"That's why our state legislators want to keep the truth from you about Proposition 1A and they've stacked the deck in their favor. So when you read the official ballot description of the measure - what should be an objective description on what is being voted on - you will see no mention of the taxes. The legislative leadership wrote the ballot description themselves and intentionally omitted any reference to the tax increase extension. They made sure what you read is biased."

Poizner noted that he successfully led the effort against a ballot measure last year that would have changed legislative term limit but, like Whitman, stopped short of pledging that he would devote some of his vast personal fortune to defeating Proposition 1A. Schwarzenegger has assembled a coalition to support and raise money for the measure's passage and are waiting to see whether any deep-pocket source would pour in money to oppose it, either a public employee union opposed to spending limits or someone on the right opposed to a tax extension.

The third GOP candidate for governor, former Congressman Tom Campbell, supports Proposition 1A, saying its needed to get a handle on state spending. He was briefly Schwarzenegger's budget director.

Republican Tom Campbell is taking a different path in his 2010 exploration of a run for governor.

The former GOP congressman and state budget director sent his supporters and e-mail today with the subject line: "My new blog."

"Most politicians will ask you to be part of a campaign," he wrote. "I would like to ask you to be part of a vision for the future -- to help shape the ideas and policies that will lead California's comeback beyond one election."

So he'll be blogging. (He's already responded to one commenter here.)

"No matter where you stand, I promise to listen," he wrote in the e-mail. "A vibrant and civil discussion is vital to California's future."

Some 2010 updates...

GOP gubernatorial hopeful Meg Whitman writes in an op-ed why she opposes the measures on the May 19 ballot.

Meanwhile, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom is in Los Angeles today for a town hall.

Last week, Newsom held a town hall in Oakland.

"We expect that this could come down to a tale of three cities -- and the relative records of Mayor Newsom, former Mayor Brown and Mayor Villaraigosa," Newsom's political strategist, Eric Jaye told the San Francisco Chronicle.

Former eBay boss Meg Whitman is keeping the California political press corps at bay as she runs for governor - even ducking out of one press conference as reporters tried to question her about the state budget - but she and her handlers are courting national press attention.

The latest manifestation of that anywhere-but-California media strategy is a lengthy cover story in Fortune magazine -- replete with several picture of her with her horse. While the article is titled "Can Meg Whitman Save California?" the horse is brown, not white.

Here's one passage:

Flash back to day one of Meg Whitman 2.0. We are sitting in her tidy living room in Atherton, Calif., on a rain-soaked morning in late February, at 24 hours and counting before she is due to give the first campaign speech of her life. Whitman, who left eBay a year ago after a decade in the job, seems unfazed by the trouble all around her. Besides waking up this morning to find a giant oak tree toppled in her front yard (it missed her white picket fence by inches), there's the daunting reality of California. "We have the fourth-highest unemployment rate in the country. We're 48th of 50 states in K-12 education," Whitman says, spewing stats and sound bites as if she's rehearsing for her first political debate. "Other states are stealing California's jobs," she says. "California is failing. I refuse to sit by and watch it happen."

The Fortune writer, Patricia Sellers, also characterizes one Whitman comment as an "obvious dig at Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, to wit: "Being CEO of the state is not a popularity contest. In the real world, business leaders cut expenses until the company is healthy again." Sellers also writes that Whitman didn't flinch when asked whether she'd spend as much as $50 million from her billionaire's fortune to win the office next year.

One other sign of Whitman's newly found media presence: Her first name is the answer to the first clue in a recent Sunday New York Times crossword puzzle.

The full Fortune article is accessible here.

One of the intriguing early machinations of the still-very-far-way 2010 GOP primary is how Steve Poizner, Meg Whitman and Tom Campbell will come down on the budget package headed to the ballot in May.

Yes, the insurance commissioner and former eBay chief have already blasted the package.

But both are wealthy and could curry favor with the GOP base by actually spending some of their millions against it.

On Wednesday, Campbell, a former budget director for Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, officially endorsed the package, offering full-throated support for the spending cap measure, which would extend the tax increases by two years.

"Proposition 1A is the intervention taxpayers need to stop this out of control spending and get our budget onto a stable path for the long-term," Campbell said.

Meanwhile, Jennifer Nelson reported on the FlashReport that Poizner told a GOP group he would take a "major role" in opposing the measure:

When asked if he would take a major role in leading an opposition effort, he said yes, that he plans to work with anti-tax groups to rally opposition to the measure.

Whether that includes digging into his wallet remains unclear. Poizner has spent his funds in ballot campaigns before, most notably opposing Proposition 93, which would have extended term limits for incumbent state lawmakers. That issue was another winner among the GOP base.

Schwarzenegger has seemed to take the early jockeying in stride. When asked about Whitman's critical comments of the plan last month, the governor retorted, "She's a smart woman. I'm sure she will look at this and see it's a terrific package."

Not that she was expected to run, but First Lady Maria Shriver said Tuesday she won't be running for governor in 2010.

"I'm not really comfortable in the office. I'm too much of a free spirit," she told the AP. "I'm trying to use my entire life experience from being in a public family, my experience as a reporter, and everything else in the work I'm doing right now."

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, right, kisses his wife Maria Shriver after speaking to gymnasts and their families during the Arnold Sports Festival Saturday, March 7, 2009, in Columbus, Ohio. Credit: AP Photo/ Jay LaPrete

Don't expect Attorney General Jerry Brown to actually admit that he's running for governor anytime soon.

"People are worried about the economy, they're looking to Washington, they're worried about the budget. Most of them are not going to dial up on the campaign yet," he told the San Francisco Chronicle in an interview.

Brown sounded off on all manner of topics -- from his 1980 presidential campaign slogan to his would-be wealthy GOP opponents.

Asked if the Republicans posed a threat, he said, "You bet they do. You spend $150 million, you spend $2 million a week attacking the Democrats ... attacking their character," he said. "That's very serious stuff.''

As for not campaigning yet, he said:

"Maybe others have to reach out, they have to introduce themselves," he said. And some are encouraged by "paid political consultants who colonize the political process."

In other 2010 news: San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom campaigned in the hometown of his rival, Attorney General Jerry Brown on Tuesday. Oakland Tribune.

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa is in Washington D.C. looking for more money for his hometown. Los Angeles Daily News.

Here's Bee cartoonist Rex Babin's latest take:

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, should she run for governor in 2010, would be sitting pretty, with a 22-point lead in the latest Field Poll.

On the Republican side, Meg Whitman, former eBay CEO, has the early lead with 21 percent support, with 54 percent undecided.

Those numbers are for the hypothetical match-ups 460 days from now. Capitol Alert has the exclusive statistical tabulations.

The GOP primary:

Whitman: 21 percent
Campbell: 18 percent
Poizner: 7 percent
Undecided: 54 percent

The Dem primary:

Feinstein: 38 percent
Brown: 16 percent
Villaraigosa: 16 percent
Newsom: 10 percent
Garamendi: 4 percent

Former Controller Steve Westly, schools chief Jack O'Connell and Treasurer Bill Lockyer weigh in at 2 percent or less.

Without DiFi:

Brown: 26 percent
Villaraigosa: 22 percent
Newsom: 16 percent
Garamendi: 8 percent

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who just won reelection on Tuesday, outpolls Attorney General Jerry Brown in Southern California, 29 percent to 22 percent.

IN COURT: Today the California Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in the effort to overturn Proposition 8, the gay marriage ban. A decision will come within 90 days.

Brown, who opposes the measure, promises to provide "periodic comments" on the court hearing on Twitter. Seriously.

The hearing will be streamed live on www.calchannel.com.

EVENT: Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento, and other Senate Democrats will hold a press conference to discuss "ways to link education to emerging economies and a high wage workforce."

PHOTO: Meg Whitman speaks to reporters during the California Republican Party's spring convention in Sacramento on Feb. 21. Credit: Hector Amezcua, Sacramento Bee/ hamezcua@sacbee.com

Los Angeles Times columnist Steve Lopez on the 2010 governor's race:

There's also speculation about a run by Orange County Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez, who once wanted to hold a fundraiser at the Playboy Mansion, so let's hope she's in. I don't have a crystal ball, but I'd say that one year from now, the odds are 3 to 1 that Villaraigosa will be running against Sanchez and 2 to 1 that he'll be dating her.

Republican gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman moved $1 million into her exploratory committee account late last month, according to a campaign statement she filed this afternoon.

The former eBay CEO, whose net worth was once listed above $1 billion, previously gave her fledgling committee $150,000. Whitman is gearing up for an expensive GOP primary against state Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner, another Silicon Valley multimillionaire.

Poizner gave his own exploratory committee $500,000 at the end of last year.

Jennifer Siebel Newsom, the pregnant wife of 2010 gubernatorial candidate and San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, stars in a new sex-romantic comedy that's already making a splash with its racy preview.

FoxNews headlines it: "First Lady of San Francisco bares all in raunchy sex scene.''

"It is going to cause quite a stir as people aren't used to seeing a political figure like this," director Gene Rhee is quoted saying. "But I just hope people judge her (Jennifer) for her amazing performance not for her political associations."

Siebel Newsom is quoted talking about filming intimate scenes in "The Trouble with Romance."

"It's always a little awkward, but I'm a dancer and an athlete so I have a more tomboy figure so I just went for it. The film was a challenge, but fun."

As for her role in a risque film while being the wife of a mayor and a candidate for governor (made before they met), she said, "Gavin jokes ... and teases me and says he'll have to approve all scripts from now on."

The movie is being released "on demand" and has a limited theater release this Friday.

The YouTube preview, at least, is already a hit -- with 50,000 page views and climbing.

Photo: Actors Jennifer Siebel and Kip Pardue in "The Trouble with Romance," courtesy of the film's MySpace page.

Rep. Tom Campbell may not have attended last weekend's Republican Party convention in Sacramento, but the former state budget director is still making his case in his underdog bid for governor.

Campbell wrote on Fox and Hounds that passing the tax-and-cuts budget package was "the right thing to do."

"There was no realistic possibility of a budget deal coming entirely from cuts in spending within one year," Campbell said. "When someone hoping to serve in public office says something like that, however, he leaves himself open to opportunistic criticism. It's already started."

That's a reference to would-be GOP rivals, Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner and former eBay chief Meg Whitman, who have blasted the budget.

Campbell goes on to defend his own fiscal record and closes with this:

"One last thing -- to fellow Republicans. No party is in healthy condition when it directs all its energy to attacking its own members. Republicans can be the party of low taxes, but we must be the party of fiscal responsibility first."

Photo: Tom Campbell as he is announced as the new director of the Department of Finance at a Capitol press conference on Thursday, Nov. 4, 2004. Credit: John Decker/Sacramento Bee.

Former eBay chief Meg Whitman was featured in a story in Sunday's New York Times about her candidacy for governor.

One line stuck out:

Whitman predicted that her campaign could cost $150 million, much of it coming from her own fortune.

That would be approximately double the cost of what Democrats Phil Angelides and Steve Westly spent in the 2006 primary -- combined.

One opponent, Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner, is a near-billionaire, but might find himself hard-pressed to keep pace with that kind of unprecedented spending.

It was a busy weekend on both coasts for California Republicans.

Fresh from raising taxes and slicing the budgets of fellow consitutuional officers, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger headed to Washington, D.C. to attend a National Governors Association meeting and take a bow before the national media.

Likening California's budget troubles to an earthquake, the governor defended his decision to raise taxes and said his party's leaders in Washington should be "team players" with President Barack Obama.

And if that means violating the GOP's principles, he said, so be it.

Grand Old Party members with another point of view, meanwhile, were wrapping up a weekend convention in Sacramento with little love for their governor or his flexible principles.

Would-be replacements for Schwarzenegger - Steve Poizner and Meg Whitman - did their best to convince those attending they wouldn't raise taxes if their lives depended on it.

And delegates delivered a symbolic, if watered-down, gesture of their disdain for the budget, passing a resolution Sunday to deny funding for campaign mailers for six state lawmakers who voted for a budget with tax increases.

In case you missed the convention, you can catch up here:

Delegate Alex Burrola was unhappy enough with Schwarzenegger that he called on the party to apologize to Democratic Gov. Gray Davis for recalling him from office.

A Ventura County Supervisor and leader of a state anti-tax group plotted a conservative challenge to Whitman and Poizner in the 2010 gubernatorial primary.

Former Hewlett Packard CEO and Republican National Committee "Victory 2008" chairwoman Carly Fiorina said she isn't ready to say whether or not she she's running against Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer in 2010.

South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford rallied delegates by saying it's "gut check" time for the GOP.

And Rep. Darrell Issa took a shot at state Sen. Abel Maldonado.

A Ventura County Supervisor and leader of a state anti-tax group is plotting a conservative challenge in the 2010 gubernatorial primary to deep-pocketed GOP moderates Meg Whitman and Steve Poizner.

In an interview, Peter Foy, state director for Americans for Prosperity, said the state party should have a strong conservative candidate and he may be just what it needs in the gubernatorial field.

"There's no question we need some leadership up in Sacramento," Foy said at Friday night reception hosted by the anti-tax group at the state Republican convention in Sacramento. "I am thinking about it."

Foy, who has served on the Ventura board of supervisors since 2006, runs an insurance and employee benefits consulting business - Peter C. Foy and Associates - in Woodland Hills.

Though he said he can't compete dollar for dollar with Poizner and Whitman - two Silicon Valley billionaires - Foy said he is hoping to light a fire under party conservatives who fear the GOP is losing its backbone on taxes and social issues.

"I don't have the ability to write those $20,000 checks," Foy said. "But I do think the people of California are looking for a true conservative that believes in true conservative values."

Last year, Foy helped erect a giant, inflatable ATM machine in front of the Capitol to dramatize opposition to unbridled government spending.

At his reception Friday night, he was saluted by State Sen. Tony Strickland, who is backing Whitman for governor.

"We need really good people up in Sacramento fighting the good cause to stop using California taxpayers as an ATM machine," Strickland said. "It is nice to know that Peter Foy and his organization is backing you."

While Poizner and Whitman support legal abortion, Foy is pro-life. But he said he would run primarily on fiscal issues, namely his belief that he is the party's best bet to hold firm on taxes and spending.

The leading candidates - who along with Rep. Tom Campbell have formed exploratory gubernatorial committees - both sharply criticized the state budget plan imposing new taxes. But Foy said he feared they would be more likely to cut deals with Democrats on state spending.

"They're good people, very good people," he said. "But we need people who understand there is no caving in."

Rep. Darrell Issa, the wealthy Southern California congressman whose money helped start the 2003 recall, has endorsed former eBay chief Meg Whitman in her bid for governor.

The endorsement is important not just for Issa's support, but because Issa, a strong conservative, has been eyed as a potential candidate himself by some hardliners in the party who fear the lack of a "true conservative" in the race.

Whitman, Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner and former Rep. Tom Campbell all count themselves as social moderates.

"Meg Whitman is exactly the leader California needs to overcome its historic challenges," Issa said in a written statement. "She has created jobs and managed large organizations to prosperity. Today, as a result of her efforts, some 1.3 million people make part, if not all, of their living selling on eBay. I look forward to working with Meg as Governor to help create two million jobs and rebuild California's economy."

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger today will sign the budget package that the Legislature passed early Thursday morning.

Then comes the list of line-item vetoes.

Of course, as Jim Sanders reports in today's Bee, more money woes could be in the state's future as the economy continues to falter.

"If I could tell you what revenues are going to be in May, I would not be making this call from Sacramento -- I'd be making it from Las Vegas," quipped H.D. Palmer, a spokesman for Schwarzenegger's Department of Finance.

I'd bet the under on that.

The real drama of the weekend will be at the California Republican Party's convention, which descends on Sacramento this evening.

In terms of budget fallout, there's the pending resolution to censure every Republican lawmaker who voted for taxes.

But there's also early jockeying in the 2010 governor's race between Meg Whitman and Steve Poizner.

Both candidates have been very critical of the budget deal struck in the Legislature.

(Speaking of sharp words from gubernatorial candidates, check out Lt. Gov. John Garamendi say this week, "We have an infection here. And it's a Republican infection, and it's really spreading across this nation.")

Among the speakers at the GOP confab: Rep. Darrell Issa speaks tonight as does 2002 GOP nominee for governor Bill Simon.

On Saturday, former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina (and talked-about 2010 U.S. Senate candidate) does breakfast on Saturday. Ex-Mass. Gov. Mitt Romney will introduce Meg Whitman at lunch. Rep. Tom McClintock and Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner will be the dinner speakers.

On Sunday, Assemblyman (and 2010 U.S. Senate candidate) Chuck DeVore takes the stage.

VICTORY LAP? Schwarzenegger, meanwhile, won't be anywhere near the GOP activists. The governor is off to Washington this weekend, in preparation for next week's National Governors' Association conference.

He'll also appear on at least two Sunday talk shows -- ABC's "This Week with George Stephanopoulos" as well as CNN's Sunday show.

FURLOUGH FRIDAY: Believe it or not, it's been only two weeks since the first state worker furlough.

Well, today marks day No. 2. Keep up with your state employee news at The State Worker blog.

BIRTHDAY: Republican Sen. Dave Cox, who flirted with the possibility of being the critical 27th budget vote earlier this week, turns 71 today.

Photo credit: After the Legislature approved the state budget, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger removed the numbers from the "deficit clock," outside his Capitol office on Thursday, Feb. 19, 2009. Credit: AP Photo/ Rich Pedroncelli.

Silicon Valley billionaire Meg Whitman might not be expected to worry much about the hassles of campaign fundraising in her exploratory bid to become the next governor of California.

But the former eBay CEO, who faces a Republican primary clash with state insurance commissioner and fellow wealthy tech entreprenuer Steve Poizner, is moving quickly to set up a campaign cash raking machine.

Whitman's finance leadership team, announced today, includes Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz, Cisco Systems chairman John Chambers and a giant in the weight loss business -- Jenny Craig.

Other notables include Scott McNealy, chairman of Sun Microsystems, Netscape Communications co-founder Marc Andreessen, former Northwest Airlines chairman Gary Wilson and E. Floyd Kvamme, partner emeritus of the Kleiner, Perkins, Caulfield and Byers venture capital firm.

Whitman earlier named exploratory campaign co-chairs, including former Gov. Pete Wilson and Reps. Kevin McCarthy and Mary Bono Mack.

San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom has serious designs on becoming the next California governor. But Newsom, 41, and his wife, actress Jennifer Siebel Newsom, 34, are now focusing on a more immediate development -- starting a family.

Newsom's spokesman, Nathan Ballard, confirmed in a statement today that Newsom and his bride of seven months are expecting their first child.

"We are pleased to confirm that Mayor Gavin Newsom and first lady Jennifer Siebel Newsom are starting a family," Ballard said. "The mayor and the first lady are thrilled to be embarking on this adventure together, and they appreciate your good wishes."

By Kevin Yamamura and Shane Goldmacher

Senate Republicans have a new leader today after the caucus ousted Sen. Dave Cogdill and replaced him with Sen. Dennis Hollingsworth shortly after midnight.

Despite speculation that Senate Republicans may ask to reopen budget talks, Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg insisted the change has absolutely no effect on his strategy to break the budget deadlock this week.

"We're going to maintain our focus towards solving the problem of getting one vote regardless of who the leader is," Steinberg said after his house took a recess around 1 a.m. "Leadership doesn't change the fact that there is no other idea put forward that would take $41 billion out of a budget deficit. And so, for me, it doesn't change anything."

After the Senate failed to approve the contentious tax hike bill, Steinberg made good on his threat to keep his members locked in for the night. He said he plans to resume talks later Wednesday with Sen. Dave Cox, R-Fair Oaks, and Sen. Abel Maldonado, R-Santa Maria, to see if either one will back the budget package.

"I would describe it as a bit of a discouraging day," Steinberg said of Tuesday. "Despite a lot of effort, and a lot of work today by our office, the governor's office, they're not there. But they have to be there eventually."

Schwarzenegger flew home to Brentwood around 9 p.m., a sign that the budget deal remained elusive Tuesday. His spokesman, Aaron McLear, said the governor plans to continue speaking to Cox and Maldonado on Wednesday.

Hollingsworth, an ardent tax opponent, made it clear that he continues to oppose the budget. When asked whether he wants to reopen the "Big 5" negotiations, he said he'd take a wait-and-see approach.

"I think the majority of my caucus doesn't want to see a tax increase passed in this particular package," Hollingsworth said. "But we'll see what happens in the next few minutes, the next few hours, the next few days."

BIRTHDAY: Assemblyman Jared Huffman, D-San Rafael, turns 45.

EVENTS: State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell will speak to a conference of the California County Superintendents Educational Services Association, or CCSESA as people who like long acronyms call the group.

Sen. Barbara Boxer, a Democrat, and Rep. Dan Lungren, a Republican, will be in town today. The congressman and the state's junior U.S. senator will be part of a large panel this morning talking about how to spend the federal stimulus money headed toward California.

Boxer is also slated for a press conference Darrell Steinberg and Karen Bass on the topic.

GOVERNOR 2010: Former eBay chief Meg Whitman gave her first speech as a candidate for governor on Tuesday.

"I love California too much to let it fail, and I refuse to sit by and watch it happen," Whitman said.

She promised the creation of 2 million jobs by 2015.

Ok, so Whitman may be new to running for office, but that's some classic campaign-style promising. 2015 just happens to be a full year after a potential first term would end...meaning there's no way for voters to judge the success of the pledge.

Whitman will give another speech in Irvine today. She's also expected to announce the endorsement of Rep. Ed Royce.

After a marathon weekend, including an all-night session beginning on the evening of Valentine's Day, passage of the roughly $40 billion plan remains one vote short.

With the budget stalled, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger will send out layoff notices to 20,000 state workers today.

In his second emotional speech on the Senate floor in as many days, Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg announced Monday that the upper house will take up the controversial tax-hike legislation this morning at 10 a.m.

And if, as expected, the bill does not pass he will lock down the Senate.

"We will stay on this floor until we get it done," Steinberg declared just before 8 p.m. Monday. "Bring a toothbrush, bring whatever necessities you need to bring."

Republicans bristled as a sharp, partisan debate ensued.

"You're not going to go back to people's pocketbooks to fuel that spending," snapped Sen. Dennis Hollingsworth, R-Murrieta.

The tense floor session capped a whirlwind weekend that will continue into the week.

Way back on Saturday evening, Democratic lawmakers went into session with high hopes that the six necessary Republican votes were in hand.

Democratic Sen. Lou Correa ultimately sided with his fellow caucus members after a measure to give Orange County an extra slice of the state budget pie was included in the budget.

Three GOP votes seemed assured in the Assembly. (With a little sweetener of a tax break to provide the Glendora Community Redevelopment Agency with millions of additional dollars beginning this year. That just happens to be in the district of Republican Assemblyman Anthony Adams.)

But the vote stalled in the Senate, with only GOP leader Dave Cogdill going up on an initial piece of the budget puzzle and Sen. Roy Ashburn, R-Bakersfield, abstaining.

That's pretty much where the budget process still stands -- one vote short.

Oh, lawmakers in both houses stayed past sunrise, as the 27th vote focus shifted from Sen. Dave Cox, R-Fair Oaks, to Sen. Abel Maldonado, R-Santa Maria.

(Watch Capitol Alert's video highlights of the all-nighter.)

Maldonado was a particularly curious case. Early Sunday morning, he told the San Jose Mercury News, "There's nothing they can give me that would make me vote for this budget."

He snapped at Schwarzenegger: "Where was he when I needed him?" -- a reference to his 2006 primary loss in which he hoped for the governor's endorsement. And he took a swipe at Cogdill, saying "There's a difference between managing a caucus and leading a caucus."

But hours later, he told The Bee, "I'm very concerned with the tax package...We're still working on that. Everything's fluid... I don't want my state to go off the cliff, OK? I don't want that."

By Monday, Maldonado enumerated a list of four demands...

Maybe closing this package will take a miracle-worker...speaking of which...Captain Chesley Sullenberger, he of the famed Hudson River plane landing last month, will be in the Capitol today.

Schwarzenegger and first lady Maria Shriver will host a celebration honoring Sullenberger in the Capitol rotunda at 11:30 a.m.

WEDDING: Not everyone was trapped under the Capitol dome all weekend. Hector Barajas, communications director for the California Republican Party, was in Hawaii where he got hitched to his fiancé Miryam.

GOVERNOR 2010: Former eBay chief Meg Whitman will begin outlining what exactly she would do if she were governor.

The ex-tech tycoon will deliver what her campaign is billing as a "vision" speech at the Tech Museum of Innovation in San Jose today.

San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom will be in Santa Cruz for another town hall.

Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner will visit with The Bee Capitol Bureau today, as well. We'll bring you the highlights later today.

GAY LOBBY DAY: Equality California, a gay-rights group, organizes its annual lobby day today, expecting more than 2,000 to attend.

The group will have a rally on the West steps just after noon and attend two hearings tentatively scheduled in the Assembly and Senate on resolutions (SR 7 and HR 5) that would declare the Legislature's opposition to Proposition 8, the gay marriage ban.

Of course, the big looming fight is before the California Supreme Court, which will hear arguments for and against the validity of Proposition 8 on March 5.

Photo: Sen. Abel Maldonado, R-Santa Maria, talks to the media about his budget vote outside his office on Monday Feb. 16, 2009. Credit: Brian Baer/Sacramento Bee.

Insurance Commissioner and would-be gubernatorial candidate Steve Poizner wants conservative California Republicans to know that he doesn't support a "travesty of a budget deal" that will impose $14 billion in new taxes on Californians.

In a column on the conservative Flash Report Web site, Poizner complains that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and the Legislature "are on the verge of passing one of the largest tax increases in American history."

Saying the budget will only cause deeper hurt to California's economy, Poizner wrote: "If you follow the Legislature's logic, a drowning man doesn't need a life preserver. He needs more water."

As for Poizner, he may well need the support of California conservatives if he has any hope of securing the 2010 Republican gubernatorial nomination. Next weekend, the state party holds its convention in Sacramento. Conservatives are floating a motion to censure any Republican who votes to increase taxes.

Also appearing at the convention is Poizner's fellow gubernatorial wannabe and Silicon Valley billionaire Meg Whitman. In an interview with the Associated Press on Thursday, Whitman also ripped the budget plan.

"I was stunned by the magnitude and the nature of the tax increases," Whitman told the AP. "What is wrong about it in my view is that the state has done virtually nothing to cut costs in the bureaucracy."

Meg Whitman, the latest entrant in California's race to be the next governor, made an appearance this morning on the "Today" show.

Interviewer Matt Lauer pulls a quote from our own Dan Walters wondering, "Why anyone would want to be governor of an arguably ungovernable state."

"Do you need counseling, Ms. Whitman?" Lauer asked in his first question about Whitman's entrance into the governor's race.

She said she didn't.

That pretty much set the tone for the three minutes they talked about her political ambitions.

Lauer also asked about the federal stimulus plan being negotiated in Congress.

"I think it will help, but is not the exact right solution," she said.

She said she had three criteria for the stimulus: "Does it create jobs, does it help the middle class and is it targeted right now?"

Of the plan, she said, "I don't think it is as targeted as it should be."

Watch the five-minute segment below:

Legislative leaders and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger did not release details of the tentative budget pact they've struck, though that didn't stop details from leaking out.

The 30,000-foot view: $15.8 billion in cuts, $14.3 billion in tax increases, $10.9 billion in borrowing. And if California gets $10 billion in federal stimulus money, cuts drop by $1.2 billion, borrowing by $5.5 billion and tax increases by $1.8 billion.

Delving deeper, the plan: Gives K-12 education $5 billion less than it was otherwise entitled to.

Eliminates two paid holidays for state workers, with the final number of furlough days per month through June 2010 still subject to negotiation.

Cuts UC and CSU by 10 percent.

Eliminates cost-of-living increases for recipients of CAL-Works and SSI-SSP.

Cuts the corrections department's medical budget by 10 percent.

Eliminates funding for local public transit agencies.

On the tax side, the plan increases sales tax by 1 cent on the dollar, vehicle license fees from current 0.65 percent of vehicle value to 1.15 percent, and gasoline taxes by 12 cents a gallon with proceeds to pay off transportation bonds. Income taxpayers would pay a 2.5 percent surcharge on tax liability - 5 percent if federal stimulus comes in under $10 billion. Reduces tax credit for dependents from $309 to $99.

Taxes would be increased for two years, and an additional one to three years if the spending restriction measure is approved on the ballot.

Other new "revenues" include taking from voter-approved taxes for mental health and early childhood programs.

The whole thing would have to go before voters in a whopping five-measure package: borrowing from the lottery, changing Proposition 98, approving the spending cap, and taking funds from Proposition 10 (tobacco tax for early childhood programs) and Proposition 63 (tax on millionaires for mental-health programs).

That, of course, is if the whole thing passes the Legislature in a vote now scheduled for Friday.

"I'm not guaranteeing any votes," Senate GOP leader Dave Cogdill said Wednesday.

"I felt it was as good as I could get and I was willing to release my members," he said. "It's up to them (his members) to make that decision."

So far GOP Sens. Dennis Hollingsworth, Sam Aanestad, and Abel Maldonado have all publicly said 'no deal.'

Then there's the case of moderate Democratic Sen. Lou Correa.

"I just don't think it gets out if he doesn't go up on it," Cogdill said

Steve Wiegand's January profile of new Assembly members walking a political tightrope is worth a re-read. (On the Democrats-only budget passed in December, none of the four freshman Dems to win in previously GOP-held seats voted. They all abstained. Schwarzenegger eventually vetoed the proposal.)

"A deal is never a deal around here," Republican Sen. Bob Huff warned Wednesday, "until it's in writing, and you're voting on it."

Which could be as early as tomorrow...

The day after announcing her candidacy, Meg Whitman, the former eBay CEO, sat down with the Los Angeles Times for an extended interview.

Michael Finnegan's take: "In a wide-ranging interview, the first-time Republican candidate's demeanor vacillated between that of a confident, take-charge chief executive officer delivering a PowerPoint presentation to that of an ill-at-ease novice who has studied stacks of policy binders, but has yet to master the art of political maneuvering."

Read the story, where she outlines her positions on any number of issues, here.

Details of what's under discussion in the budget talks are slowing trickling out.

To be clear, no deal has been struck and negotiations are continuing (and shifting). But Jim Sanders teased out at least some of the taxes on the table for today's Bee:

• Increasing the state's sales tax by 1 cent on the dollar.
• Increasing gasoline taxes by 12 cents per gallon.
• Raising the state's vehicle license fee from 0.65 percent of a vehicle's value to 1.15 percent, with 1 percent going to the general fund and local law enforcement getting 0.15 percent.
• Increasing the personal income tax across the board, either by assessing a surcharge on tax liability or increasing the tax rate.

The sales, income and VLF components would be in effect for either two years or five years, depending on whether a companion spending cap measure passes.

Sanders reports that if the cap were approved, the tax hikes would last five years. If the cap fails, the taxes would last for only two years. It was not clear Tuesday whether the gas tax hike would be tied to the spending cap measure.

Despite promises for a vote this week, the state Senate announced over the Legislature's speaker system Tuesday that floor sessions for the rest of the week are now "check-in" -- Capitol-speak for not actually meeting.

That could change at the discretion of the leadership. (Get a midday update from Senate leader Darrell Steinberg, who will be the guest at the Sacramento Press Club.)

Where's the action today? The fundraising circuit, of course.

Twelve lawmakers -- exactly one in ten -- are scheduled to fan out across Sacramento today, hat in hand, asking for money from many of the very special interests with skin in the budget game.

"They must be getting ready to vote," said Ted Costa, president of People's Advocate, a political watchdog group, only half-jokingly. More seriously, he said, "It seems to me that they should get this budget thing taken care before they're out there raising money."

Events run from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Those collecting checks today: Elaine Alquist, Charles Calderon, Ron Calderon, Wes Chesbro, Connie Conway, Chuck DeVore, Noreen Evans, Tom Harman, Ted Lieu, Bill Monning, Mary Salas, and Jose Solorio.

OTHER EVENTS: Assembly GOP leader Mike Villines is scheduled to speak to the Contra Costa County Republican Party in the evening, where he'll receive the group's "legislator of the year award."

STUDY: A new report from The Pew Center on the States calls California a "budget laggard."

2010 WATCH: Former Rep. Tom Campbell, who is exploring a run for governor, will be at the Commonwealth Club in Lafayette today. The title of his talk: "Budgeting the Bailout for California and the Country."

Attorney General Jerry Brown will attend a Sacramento luncheon hosted by the California Newspaper Publishers Association, where he'll take questions from Jim Newton, editorial page editor of the Los Angeles Times.

Also today, Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner will announce a $15 million settlement with a California health insurance company that rescinded coverage of 2,300 customers. The company will have to offer coverage to those customers, reimburse their out-of-pocket costs and pay a $1 million fine.

BIRTHDAY: Assemblyman Joel Anderson, R-Alpine, turns 49 today.

Photo: That's Sen. Darrell Steinberg entering the governor's office for a meeting Tuesday night with a bottle of wine he told the Associated Press was a "peace offering." Credit: Rich Pedroncelli/Associated Press.

Don Henley, the singer who co-founded the Eagles, donated $13,000 to Attorney General Jerry Brown last Friday, according to new campaign filings.

Brown is widely expected to run for governor in 2010.

Speaking of Hollywood money, another $12,000 donation recently arrived for Brown from Edith Wasserman, the widow of the late Lew Wasserman, the talent agent turned studio mogul.

BUDGET: Floor sessions are scheduled in both houses of the Legislature today. No budget vote Is expected..

Senate leader Darrell Steinberg said Monday that the earliest a vote could occur would be Wednesday, "but it may even be a day or two later."

Senate Democrats huddled in an after-hours caucus on Monday night to discuss the latest budget developments.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and the four legislative legislative leaders are scheduled to continue their closed-door negotiations today.

EVENTS: The California State PTA will rally in Glendale against budget cuts to education. Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell is slated to attend.

The Senate Energy, Utilities and Communications Committee will hear legislation by Sen. Joe Simitian to increase the requirement on utilities to provide power from renewable energy.

The current standard is 20 percent of power from renewables by 2010. The Simitian bill would up that to 33 percent by 2020.

PRESSER: The state Assembly will announce plans for the first of its savings by cutting operating costs. Today, the lower house will commit at least $2 million of its own funds to the Employment Development Department.

That's the state unemployment agency swamped with calls as the unemployment rate has jumped to 9.3 percent.

The money is part of the Assembly's pledge to cut 10 percent, or $15.1 milion, from its budget. A whole host of Democrats (Assembly members Juan Arambula, Joe Coto, Noreen Evans, Ted Lieu and Sandré Swanson) will hold a press conferrence to announce the giving.

GOVERNOR 2010: Lt. Gov. John Garamendi will be in Tulare today, pressing for his plan for an accelerated medical school at the UC Merced.

San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom will be in San Jose for a town-hall style event.

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa can't commit to serving a full second term.

And, if you missed all the Meg Whitman coverage Monday, here's a roundup of the Capitol Alert headlines:

Whitman boots up campaign for governor
Ex-Gov. Wilson tops list of early Whitman backers
Poizner's response: 'Welcome' to the campaign
Whitman settles cybersquatter case -- out of court
Hudson files FPPC complaint against Whitman...gets Poizner's support

In an interview with the Associated Press, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said he couldn't commit to serving a full term as mayor if reelected next month.

"I'm not going to make a promise I can't keep," he told the wire service in a sit-down interview.

The AP calls it "the clearest signal yet that Villaraigosa will be among contenders in 2010 to succeed Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger."

Read the AP story.

Let the 2010 GOP politicking begin.

Tom Hudson, the chairman of the Placer County Republican Party, filed a formal complaint with the state's campaign watchdog agency against Meg Whitman on Monday only hours after she announced she was exploring a run for governor.

In his complaint to the Fair Political Practices Commission, Hudson accuses Whitman of hiding her campaign expenditures, claiming she has been campaigning for months without disclosure.

"To date, Candidate has refused to file any campaign reports to disclose the tens of thousands or perhaps hundreds of thousands of dollars spent on her behalf to win the Republican nomination," he writes in his complaint.

Hudson cites press reports that Whitman "retained, hired and fired numerous campaign consultants, press assistants, pollsters, attorneys and campaign organizers over the last many months."

Meanwhile, Hudson is running for a post in the California Republican Party apparatus. Specifically, he wants to be Northern Vice Chairman.

And who endorsed Hudson for the post on Monday?

None other than Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner, a top Whitman rival.

"It is unusual for constitutional officers to get involved in these intra-Party races, but Tom Hudson is not your typical candidate," said Jeff Evans of the California Taxpayer Protection Committee in announcing the endorsement.

Kevin Spillane, a Poizner spokesman, said the "endorsement came before the complaint was filed and was independent of the complaint."

The Poizner camp, Spillane said, did not know Hudson was filing the FPPC complaint.

There was "no quid pro quo," Spillane said.

A call to Hudson was not immediately returned.