Can Whitman's spending move the tied polls?

Sacramento Bee ^ | 8/20/10 | Jack Chang

[SmithL]

Since Republican Meg Whitman and Democrat Jerry Brown won their parties' nominations in June, tens of millions of dollars have been spent trying to break the statistical tie that's gripped the race for months.

Whitman, in particular, has blanketed the state in radio and TV ads touting her corporate experience and depicting Brown as a failed career politician. Brown hasn't spent anything on advertising yet, but his union allies have aired commercials attacking Whitman as the heartless former CEO of the online auction firm eBay.

With the general election season now at its halfway point, 10 weeks from the primary and 10 until the Nov. 2 vote, the campaigns remain stuck where they started – tied in every public opinion poll.

That presents a perplexing challenge for Whitman, who's been running paid advertising in the state for nearly a year – starting with a radio spot introducing her to voters last September.

Californians may now be tuning out all the ads or even turning a skeptical eye on them after watching for so long, said Clayton Critcher, a social psychologist and assistant professor of marketing at UC Berkeley's Haas School of Business.

[Vigilanteman]

Times were much better in California the last time Brown was governor.

Because Reagan was president.

[CynicalBear]

Given that Brown has already had a chance and didn’t do a lot of good that I have seen wouldn’t it be wise to give an “outsider” the chance rather then renue the old establishment people?

[calcowgirl]

I see the Dems trolls are out in full force...

Who are you referring to?

The only troll I see here is the one dissing conservative freepers by calling them Dem trolls, i.e. YOU.

[calcowgirl]

The ONLY thing that held the Communist State Legislature in any kind of check has been Arnold’s veto pen.

ROFL! Now that is funny!

Heck, Arnie SPONSORED and pushed many of those anti-business laws. How exactly do you think we ended up with AB32?

BTW, The Dems don't have a supermajority, yet. So there is something stopping moronic anti-business legislation -- it's called the Senate and the Assembly.

[4Liberty]

I’m voting for the Libertarian Candidate, Dale Ogden, for Calif. Governor. He’s basically an expert on pensions, and a strong fiscal conservative - wants to cut govt. spending and reform unsustainable public union pensions. Our very own “Chris Christie” for 2010 CA Election cycle! We should think outside the box, send a message to the “usual” Socialists & RINOs we have to choose.