Meg Whitman attempts to buy her way into the Governor's mansion

[marmar]

from the Los Angeles Times:



Meg Whitman's deep pockets put her ahead of Jerry Brown
Former EBay chief's record-breaking $39-million gift to her own campaign helps put her 3 points ahead of the attorney general in governor's race, poll finds. Boxer still leads in Senate contest.


By Cathleen Decker
April 5, 2010 | 5:40 a.m.


Republican Meg Whitman's unprecedented spending spree in the race for governor has rocketed her into a narrow lead against Democrat Jerry Brown, while incumbent U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer (D) is holding her own as a trio of little-known GOP candidates vies to challenge her, a new Los Angeles Times/USC poll has found.

Whitman, who gave her campaign a record-breaking $39 million to finance a blistering pace of recent television advertising, carried 44% of voters to Brown's 41%. The campaign by Brown, the former governor and current attorney general, has been the antithesis of Whitman's, operating under the radar except for a brief burst of publicity in early March when he announced his intention to run.

In her first bid for elective office, Whitman was easily outdistancing her fellow Republican, Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner, with a 40-point lead in the poll as they move toward the June primary.

In the Republican Senate contest, former U.S. Rep. Tom Campbell held a slim lead over one-time Hewlett-Packard chief Carly Fiorina, 29% to 25%. Coming in a distant third was Orange County Assemblyman Chuck DeVore, at 9%.

At this early stage of the campaign, Boxer has a comfortable cushion over a generic Republican, 48% to 34%, as she seeks her fourth term. Although somewhat diminished in popularity, Boxer maintains a positive impression among California voters, the poll found. .........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-poll5-2010apr05,0,6735113.story

[no_hypocrisy]

1. Didn't work for Michael Huffington . . . .

[bluedeminredstate]

2. How can Californians even think about a republican

after the disaster of Arnold? What is it with the electorate in America? You see it in the national polls too - after 8 years of Bush the public is giving Obama no leeway to fix the mess Bush left and are considering putting a repug back in the WH. It's like going back to an abusive boyfriend. I hate to see California compound their desperate situation by putting Whitman in charge. What a disconnect - the avaerage struggling Californian considers voting for the person who has 38 million to give her own campaign.

[kestrel91316]

3. She has, by spending so many millions of her own money, given

Jerry Brown a whole boxcar load of ammo against her. Californians aren't stupid, and aren't exceptionally fond of the uber-wealthy who sling money around like burgers on a grill (unless they are entertainment celebrities).