| Public Policy Polling (PPP) has been polling California this week, and found some very favorable news for Barbara Boxer and Jerry Brown.
In their Senate polling, PPP found that Boxer has a 49-40 lead over Fiorina, up from 45-42 back in May. They also found that Fiorina's negatives are rising, with 28% having a favorable view and 40% having an unfavorable view. Independent voters in particular have shifted against Fiorina, with Boxer leading there 48-38.
Fiorina's inept campaign and her desire to run as an extreme right-wing candidate, combined with her support of high unemployment and mass layoffs, means that if we continue to work hard, Boxer should be able to win this race.
PPP found similar numbers for the governor's race, with Brown up 46-40 over Whitman. Whitman's massive TV ad barrage may have backfired, with 50% of voters having an unfavorable opinion of her (30% are favorable). Like Boxer, Brown also leads among independents, 47-31.
One reason why Whitman and Fiorina aren't doing so well: Californians really do not like the idea of rich people buying public office. 52% think there should be a cap on how much money a candidate can give to their own campaign.
If there's any difference between the two races, it's that Brown is doing a bit less well with his own party than Boxer is with Dems, or Whitman with Republicans. Boxer leads 77-13 among Dems, and Whitman has 76% of Republicans - but Jerry Brown has only 69% of Democrats.
I can understand why some Democrats might not be enthused about Jerry Brown. Like I said earlier this week, the best we can hope for from him is an Obama-style presidency where we can have an opportunity to play offense. Brown will never be a progressive leader, and he will propose some things we'll have to fight against.
But there's really no good excuse for Democrats to support anyone else, especially Meg Whitman, who is determined to destroy what remains of the California Dream and use the state as a launching pad for her own White House ambitions.
Brown has to do some work to get Democrats to strongly back his campaign. And he needs to do much more to encourage Democrats to get engaged - running a "Rose Garden" campaign isn't going to inspire the broad and deep California progressive grassroots to work to elect Brown and beat Whitman.
But if that convergence does happen, the PPP poll suggests Meg Whitman might well spend $150 million on a losing effort. And that would be a very good outcome indeed. |
