It was fitting today when most reporters in a group gathered for the weekly news briefing from Press Secretary Aaron McLear chose not to attend Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's bill-signing ceremony in the Capitol Rotunda a few minutes later. Since the governor was not going to take any questions, it was set up as a photo opportunity and little more.
Still, the lack of news value in the event also said something about Schwarzenegger's emerging lame-duck status on the same day that the 2010 gubernatorial campaign was more or less officially christened -- the day when former eBay CEO Meg Whitman officially declared her candidacy and launched a statewide introductory radio commercial.
Of local note, state Sen. Tony Strickland of Moorpark accompanied Whitman at her announcement in Fullerton. He is one of a half-dozen statewide co-chairs of her campaign, among a group that also includes former GOP gubernatorial nominee Bill Simon.
On the next rung down the ladder, the 18 campaign co-chairs, is one other Ventura County Republican, from the same family: Assemblywoman Audra Strickland.
Meg Whitman will let poor people starve to death because she's a dirty capitalist. A working-class person would have to be suicidal to vote for her.
So Bill Simon and Steve Frank's rolodex have parted ways.
Strickland thumbs his nose at term limits which were meant to send him back to the private sector