CA-Sen: HP Donates to Boxer, Not Fiorina
To those who know her best, Carly Fiorina just isn't U.S. Senate material.
The political action committee for Hewlett Packard donated the $10,000 maximum to Barbara Boxer's re-election campaign. The chaser: HP's PAC didn't donate a single dime to Fiorina. It is a stunning (second) rejection of Fiorina's leadership.
Similarly, Chuck DeVore received $2,400 from the granddaughter of the founder of Hewlett Packard.
Fiorina attempts to play up her role as HP's chief executive on the campaign trail as an achievement, it is increasingly becoming a hindrance politically. HP didn't want her anymore in 2005 and are sending a message that things haven't changed.
You get the sense that for those connected to HP and remember Fiorina's disastrous tenure are singing the ABCs: "Anybody But Carly."
Californians Receive More for Tax Dollars
Californians receive more for their tax dollars for the first time in more than 20 years. In his State of the State address delivered last week, Arnold Schwarzenegger claimed the state received less per tax dollar spent and proceeded to demand the federal government fill the state's $6.9 billion budget deficit.
Commissioned by Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer, the study determined that California in 2008 and 2009 received more from the federal government than the state sent to Washington in the form of taxes. However temporary, that reverses a trend of more than 20 years.
"(We) have really worked hard to send more dollars to our state," Boxer said Friday, adding that "of course, we want to do even more." [...]
Boxer's staff economist determined that California received approximately $1.02 back in federal spending for every $1 in tax revenue it sent to Washington in 2008. The economist further estimated California received $1.45 back in federal spending for every $1 in tax revenue the state sent in 2009.
Remainders
Arnold Schwarzenegger's budget plan would strip cities and counties of cash. Darrell Steinberg, top Democrat in the State Senate, uttered, "You've got to be kidding" in response to the plan. Cuts to welfare support would be added pain to the state's poor. Meanwhile, the Governor's idea to get the federal government to fill-in the $6.9 billion gap in the state budget did not receive the kind of support he would have wanted from Nancy Pelosi, nor the state's Senate delegation.
Sacramento and San Joaquin County experienced all-time highs in bankruptcies and the Bay Area residents struggle to keep their heads above water, too.
The GOP candidates for George Radanovich's seat are so similar on the issues that the race is bound to get personal and nasty.
Jerry McNerney delivered $238,000 for a women's center in San Joaquin County.
George Miller, a Democrat from Martinez, and John Garamendi joined together to issue a call for a new direction on trade policy.
A sizable 6.5 earthquake struck northern California on Saturday. Early reports show no injuries or fatalities but minor damage and power outages. The event marks the third day in a row for the state. The quake, apparently, did not damage the Calaveras Dam, crews say.
Manteca Bulletin profiled Pombo-lite Brad Goehring with yet another Republican puff piece.
Hayward City Council unanimously passed a ridiculous measure that fines parents on a sliding scale for their children cutting class.
Schwarzenegger will appear on tomorrow's Meet the Press.
California Political Headlines
Headlines that have accumulated over the last couple of weeks in various California races.
CA-Senate
- Afghanistan: Chuck DeVore opposes the President's plan while Carly Fiorina supports the decision. [San Francisco Chronicle]
- Fiorina is "still making rookie mistakes." [Fox & Hounds]
Last week, for example, she brushed off Irvine Assemblyman Chuck DeVore, her GOP primary opponent, by arguing at a Washington breakfast that he wouldn’t have a prayer against Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer because he’s, well, a white guy.
While Fiorina insisted that some of her best friends were white guys, she said they just can’t win against Boxer because “she knows how to beat them. She’s done it over and over and over.”
It’s true that Bruce Herschensohn (1992) and Bill Jones (2004) were of the Anglo male persuasion, but while Matt Fong may have been called many things during his 1998 battle with Boxer, “white male” wasn’t one of them. [...]
But Fiorina should be careful when she talks about Boxer’s ability to win elections, since, as a political first-timer, Fiorina has yet to show that she can beat anyone.
- Another rookie mistake? Fiorina says she "shares Sarah Palin's values." Values, of course, that were rebuked by the largest margin in California since the Second World War. [San Jose Mercury News]
- Fiorina was caught on a live mic after an interview with CNN's John King that he "does a great job on this show." Unsure if being an avowed CNN viewer passes the RNC's purity test. [Variety]
CA-Governor
- It looks like Meg Whitman and Jerry Brown in November, according to numbers published by Rasmussen. [Orange County Register]
- Steve Poizner stumps for his 10-10-10 plan in Napa's wine country that was blasted by conservative Mike Genest, the state's former director of finance, after it was announced. [Napa Valley Register]
- Poizner's campaign says they are "on target" but John Wildermuth thinks the letter to their "grassroots" is aimed to sooth fears that the campaign is getting crushed by Whitman's media onslaught. [Fox & Hounds]
- Whitman's wooing of women is a bust. [Associated Press]
Whitman rarely dwells on her gender as she seeks to woo the female voters who now make up a majority of California's electorate. But when she does make that pitch, her language at times comes across as tone-deaf. A recent poll shows she is having mixed results in winning over women. [emphasis added]
Fact is, though, the letter reads like a hasty attempt to soothe nervous supporters, combined with a hint of whistling past the graveyard.
It’s no surprise that the grassroots GOP base Poizner has been courting since 2006 is getting antsy. They’ve been bombarded with radio ads for former eBay CEO Meg Whitman and seen polls like last month’s L.A. Times-USC survey, which not only had the state insurance commissioner running 25 points behind Whitman, but also showed him 17 points back of former San Jose Rep. Tom Campbell.
“Early and excessive spending by the Whitman campaign has had an impact on the polls,” Bognet admitted, but the polls this early are “largely meaningless.”
Especially if you’re running third in a three-person race.
CA-Sen: Fiorina, DeVore Garner Low Favorables in SUSA Poll
More than half of the respondents said, ''Chuck DeVore? Who?''
SurveyUSA released a new poll sponsored by four major media outlets in the state -- local ABC-affiliates KABC-TV in Los Angeles, KFSN-TV in Fresno, KGTV-TV in San Diego, and CBS-affiliate KPIX-TV San Francisco -- that surveys the favorable and unfavorable figures for Barbara Boxer and her two potential Republican opponents, Carly Fiorina and Chuck DeVore.
The poll produced ugly figures for both Fiorina and DeVore.
Conducted the day of Fiorina's declaration of her candidacy, she was viewed favorably by only 11 percent and unfavorably by 24 percent -- more than twice as much -- and 33 percent had no opinion.
DeVore, riding high from the endorsement of conservative Senate icon Jim DeMint and his Senate Conservatives Fund yesterday, didn't even crack double-digits in favorability. He was viewed positively by only 8 percent and respondents had an unfavorable view of him nearly twice that. More than half of the respondents, however, basically replied, "Chuck Devore? Who?"
Barbara Boxer, seeking her third term to the U.S. Senate, received 30/33 favorable/unfavorable figures.
Sampling size was 500 adults with a margin of error ±4.5 percent and conducted on Wednesday, November 4.