<p>Two months from now, whoever occupies the suite of offices in the southeastern corner of the Capitol will be sweating bullets.</p>
<p>Gov. Gray Davis signed the 2003-04 state budget just two months ago -- a deficit-ridden spending plan that his administration has acknowledged would lead to more red ink. And sometime between Thanksgiving and Christmas, either he or his successor will be deciding whether to slash state spending by billions of dollars or run the political risk of seeking new taxes.</p>