Republican presidential nominee-to-be John McCain is in California today, holding a rally in Stockton to be followed by a fund-raiser at the home of GOP donor extraordinare Alex Spanos.

He can't be happy with the timing of today's release of a new PPIC poll of California voters.

Not only does the poll show him trailing Barack Obama by 17 points and Hillary Clinton by 12 points in head-to-head matchups, it also suggests his standing among independents in California isn't what it used to be. The poll shows that more independents have an unfavorable view of McCain (53 percent) than have an unfavorable view of Clinton (50 percent).

It also shows that if pitted against Democratic front-runner Obama, about twice as many Republicans (19 percent) would cross over in the general election than Democrats (10 percent).

It's an early sign that California could once again be pretty much ignored in the fall presidential campaign, with Democrats taking it for granted and Republicans giving it up as a lost cause.