Rob Stutzman has not yet signed up to work for Meg Whitman, the former EBay CEO who is considering a run for governor, the highly regarded Republican operative told PolitickerCA.com today. Stutzman directed California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's communications shop before running Mitt Romney's campaign in the Golden State.

"I'm not doing work for Whitman," said Stutzman. "I'm firmly nowhere in the governor's race."

Stutzman did not answer when asked if he had been approached by Whitman, an endorser of Romney with whom he worked, but said he had great respect both her and Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner, another Republican who has made indications he is interested in a 2010 run for the state's top post. "I could vote for either one," he said.

Last week Tim Clark, an adviser who managed Poizner's successful 2006 campaign for California Insurance Commissioner took something of an opening shot at Whitman. "I don't think Meg Whitman gets around Steve in a gubernatorial primary, I don't think anyone does," Clark told PolitickerCA.com at the time.

With the election more than two years away, Stutzman said he believed it was too early for Republicans to begin taking shots at one another.

"I do think it's a little early. Let potential candidates take a look at the field," he said. Stutzman added that, in a state where running a gubernatorial campaign is expensive, at this point Republicans should be encouraging potential candidates who are independently wealthy and have an ability to self fund like Poizner and Whitman to consider joining the race.