“Does Gov. Schwarzenegger have a role to play in this
year’s race for governor? Does he endorse a candidate and
go on the campaign trail? Or, given his approval rating,
does he stay out entirely?”

“Meg Whitman vs. the nurses: Who wins here? Does she successfully drive a wedge between the nurses and their leadership, or does spanking nurses backfire with voters?”

Ask the governor.

As John Burton once said, everybody likes nurses. This is

“The latest Field Poll shows Brown and Whitman in a dead heat. An early survey, but there are danger signals for Brown — eroding Latino support, soft rank-and-file union support. Your thoughts?”

He’s toast. Drive to Reno today and take

“Meg Whitman’s new strategy is to go after Jerry Brown’s core union support, and try to drive a wedge between the rank-and-file and the leaders. Will this work?”

No way.  These efforts just provide more evidence that Meg Whitman has money to burn and, fortunately, that will play right into the messaging needed to beat her:  That she is a billionaire who  is completely out of touch with everyday working people.  

No, it won’t work.

Only

“The governor plans a trade mission to China and, possibly, to Russia, too. Valuable trips for California or lame-duck junkets?”

It’s hard to picture a smart foreign businessperson thinking, “Gee, a former movie star turned lame-duck governor briefly visited our

“A Chinese company is bankrolling the governor’s “trade mission” to Asia. He says its better to do it this way than use taxpayers’ money. What do you think?”

He will get criticized either way.  If he uses taxpayer money, it’s

“On to November: Brown vs. Whitman, Fiorina vs. Boxer. Who wins what – and why?”

Whitman and Fiorina because it’s the year of the woman – and voters are ready for a change.

Brown and Boxer – call them

“Bills held in both Appropriations Committees, rival interests headed to the number ballot, no money, a lame-duck governor and, in the background, statewide political campaigns. Is the state budget facing Armageddon?”

A sure sign of the meltdown would have been

“In its latest disagreement with the governor, the LAO says the state needs new money from targeted tax hikes to balance its books. Will it happen, or will this recommendation get lost in the partisan wars?”

Does anyone even see

“The Whitman-Poizner contest for governor: Is the race narrowing? What’s your sense of how far apart these candidates really are?”

Yes, the race is absolutely narrowing. It will be neck and neck all the way to Election Day. The winner