Even though I wrote about GOP gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman first after I attended the Orange County Business Journal‘s 15th annual Women In Business Awards, that wasn’t the main reason I was there.

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Has Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger poisoned the Republican brand, making it difficult for anyone in the GOP to succeed him?

Do Californians really view him as a Republican anyway? Seems these days the Republican Party, particularly conservatives, don’t have much use for the maverick, independent-minded Guvernator. After he cut a deal with Democrats to raise taxes the right considers him a RINO (not that they trusted him much for years anyway).

But does it really matter anyway? It’s unlikely a far-right conservative can carry blue California. While Republicans carry on a national struggle for the soul of the party — do they tilt hard right or try to regain some of the center? — the two Grand Old Party hopefuls for governor are moderates. Steve Poizner, the California Insurance Commissioner, and Meg Whitman, former chief executive of eBay. Most handicappers have Attorney General, and former Governor Moonbeam, Jerry Brown down for the Democrat’s nominee (as do I). So who will it be? Brown vs. Poizner or Brown vs. Whitman.

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With Tuesday night’s propositions about as successful as Jon and Kate’s marriage these days, and going down harder than, say, Manny Pacquiao’s latest victim, it’s time to consider what’s next.

Another circus in Sacramento with lawmakers going Freddy Krueger on the budget? (Mark Dustin’s picture above from last year’s Orange County Fair seemed appropriate given the threat to sell the fairgrounds to help cover the state’s debt. In metaphorical terms, just imagine the clown is a state lawmaker trying to punt the problem to voters).

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