My latest for CAIVN. Just when everyone including me thought maybe Jerry Brown was down for the count, Meg Whitman stalls in the polls, and Brown starts coming on strong.
With environmental issues becoming major issues in the gubernatorial race, Brown’s stance will undoubtedly resonate with voters. After all, California has a 13 point advantage for Democrats: 44% are registered Democrats, and 31% are Republican. Plus, the PPIC poll shows that for those whom environmental issues are important, 50% favor Brown and just 16% Whitman.
Some are saying Whitman’s strategy of self-financing her campaign with a big push during the summer to cut into Brown’s constituency isn’t working. She hasn’t picked up any appreciable amount of new votes. Worse, the PPIC poll shows that 52% of voters say there should be a legal limit on what a candidate can spend on their campaign. So, perhaps there’s backlash brewing against Whitman and her spending $105 million of her own money so far on the campaign.