California: Tom Campbell

California's media likes to play up Tom Campbell as some sort of "moderate" or "sensible" Republican. As compared to Attila the Hun this might be plausible. But even a cursory glance at his alternative budget solutions shows that he is a typically conservative politician. Sure, his conservatism seems to be of the Ronald Reagan sort as opposed to the Grover Norquist sort. But there never was much difference between the two, except in tone, which is apparently all that matters to the media.

Campbell's proposed budget claims to want to solve a "systemic" crisis in a way that doesn't hurt our ability to recover from the economic crisis.

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.

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."

Former EBay Chief Executive Meg Whitman joined the race for governor of California on Monday, setting off a battle between Silicon Valley moguls for the 2010 Republican nomination.

Whitman, 52, has never run for public office but is banking on Californians' viewing her corporate background as just what the state needs to break its chronic cycle of fiscal disasters.

"California faces challenges unlike any other time in its history -- a weak and faltering economy, massive job losses and an exploding state budget deficit," she said in a written statement. "California is better than this, and I refuse to stand by and watch it fail.