Political Candidates

A day after launching her campaign for governor, former EBay Chief Executive Meg Whitman on Tuesday unveiled a sharply conservative approach to California's fiscal crisis and offered a fusillade of positions on other issues that are likely to complicate her run for office in 2010.

He's just 26 and making his first election bid in a crowded field of candidates that includes two seasoned, well-financed officeholders -- just the sort of hopeful who usually gets lost in the pack. But Emanuel Pleitez has collected enough money -- much of it in online donations from across the nation -- to put on a substantive mail campaign, bolstered by an energetic staff of young volunteers.

Three years after falling short in a bid for higher office, Los Angeles City Atty. Rocky Delgadillo has taken the first step toward launching a second campaign for California attorney general, a spokesman said Thursday. Term limits prevent Delgadillo, 48, from seeking reelection as city attorney this year. Papers filed with the secretary of state this week allow Delgadillo to begin fundraising for a statewide campaign for attorney general in 2010, according to Delgadillo spokesman Stephen J.

"Hillary: The Movie" had little effect on last year's election campaign, but it could have a profound impact on a century of election laws that restrict corporations from promoting or attacking candidates for public office. The Supreme Court took up a case Tuesday involving the 90-minute documentary that attacked Hillary Rodham Clinton when she was running for president. The dispute focused on whether the government can limit the use of corporate money in political campaigns.

Hundreds of young women in head scarves scream, stomp their feet and wave green flags and banners inside the Bahman Cultural Center, often a venue for pop bands performing in Tehran. But it's not a rock star they await -- it's an aging politician and his wife, who has electrified female voters with her impressive resume and seemingly modern relationship with her husband.

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's decision Monday to skip the 2010 race for California governor left a two-person contest for the Democratic nomination in which former Gov. Jerry Brown starts with a strong advantage in scooping up much of the mayor's support, political analysts said. San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, the other contender, appeared likely to tap into Villaraigosa's strong appeal among young voters.

I don't know if this is an old adage or a new one I've coined based on years of depressing observations, but it seems that California's political leaders mostly operate according to the following principle: The best way to avoid taking action on something is to call for "action." The aftermath of the May 19 special election affords us an especially good look at this principle in, well, action.

"Killer Klowns from Outer Space" pushed Sheryl Iannitti into a City Council race. In October, Iannitti hired 10 workers and spent $50,000 to put up Halloween decorations in front of her Palos Verdes Estates home, with a theme based on the horror comedy film, her favorite movie. There were 8-foot-tall wooden versions of characters from the movie, as well as an elephant standing on a ball, a ticket booth and a clown car.

A new campaign mailer from City Councilman Jack Weiss, a city attorney candidate, sparked unusually heated criticism from several of his council colleagues Tuesday with the election just three weeks away. The brochure sent to voters early this month became the source of whispered conversations on the council floor in City Hall as colleagues passed around copies.

I may be projecting a bit here, but I wonder if a certain desperation among the electorate won't be Meg Whitman's biggest advantage in the forthcoming race for governor of California. We've tried professional politicians (Pete Wilson, Gray Davis). We've tried a Hollywood action star and a melodrama second banana (Arnold Schwarzenegger, Ronald Reagan). We've tried a colorless nobody (George Deukmejian) and a publicity magnet (Jerry Brown).