California: John Garamendi

Two polls were actually released today on the 2010 California Governor's race.  The Field Poll did an extensive poll of the race, including favorability ratings, and Lake Research, a Democratic firm, did their own poll which included some head-to-head matchups.

Field's poll included Dianne Feinstein and I don't think the results were all that great for her.  In the primary she polls well under 50%, compared to earlier polls which had her closer to that number.

Dianne Feinstein: 38%
Jerry Brown: 16%
Antonio Villaraigosa: 16%
Gavin Newsom: 10%
John Garamendi: 4%
Steve Westly: 2%
Bill Lockyer: 1%
Jack O'Connell: 1%
Undecided: 12%

Considering she's the most well-known figure in California politics, and that there won't be that many competitors in the final field, that's not a runaway at all.

I'm here in Sacramento this morning for the Constitutional Convention Summit organized by the Bay Area Council. You can see the agenda here. It's unfortunate that the BAC chose to maintain an $89 registration fee, but there will be other events much more open and accessible to the public in the coming weeks and months.

I'll be liveblogging here and twittering at @cruickshank throughout the day.

The main purpose of this Summit is to gauge interest in calling a convention, bringing people together to think through the process of calling one, what issues a convention might consider, and ultimately start to generate support for the idea.

Schwarzenegger has pledged to make an unspecified $600 million in cuts through his line item veto powers.  And boy oh boy did he take out the blue pencil to the Lieutenant Governor's office.

He cut the LG's budget by 62%.

LG. Garamendi issued a statement, and you have to give him credit for using this a teachable moment on structural issues. Of course, he's right about the borrowing being a temporary fix.

"The additional cuts imposed by the governor in his line item vetoes further harm the vulnerable and the ability of the state to thrive in the years ahead. Thousands of hard working, dedicated California citizens will lose there jobs as a result of the budget.

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.