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A little less than two weeks ago California Attorney General and Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jerry Brown was poking at Republican gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman over the millions she had spent to date, and the fact he still had a 5 point lead in a recent poll.

Remember the invite Meg to tea comment?

Then came last Wednesday. The widely respected Field Poll had Whitman and Brown in a statistical tie. Brown stopped laughing.

So much for that lead. A lead Brown will likely never see again.

Whitman has spent nearly $90 million in defeating her republican primary challenger Steve Poizner, while at the same time propelling her name identification to that of Brown.

Since the June 8th primary Whitman has successfully focused on Brown.

Let’s face it. Brown’s record in politics isn’t quite as stellar as he would like people to believe and Whitman is going to remind voters all summer long. Brown has lost his share of elections and made his share of mistakes.

Something that he can’t run from.

Brown now bears witness to his eroding support among all minority groups. Something he never imagined could ever happen. Whitman has been reaching out to Brown’s minority and labor bases in an effort to cause defections, and it’s working. Without strong support from his base, Brown stands no chance.

With labor union members, there’s one issue that is becoming paramount. That issue? The state economy and budget collapse.

Union members aren’t stupid. They know California is in trouble. They want to know they’ll have jobs in the future.They also know Brown isn’t the solution. Whitman on the other hand brings “non-political” executive experience. Millions of Californians have purchased items on EBay and can identify with that level of success.

The routinely surfacing revelations regarding Whitman’s temper may actually help, not hurt, the republican candidate.

It might be time for a Governor who’s not afraid to smack people around, especially in Sacramento.

It definitely can’t hurt.

Imagine California with a tough Governor. What a concept. One things for certain, Whitman is no actor or actress.

Brown’s only solution-to-date of “I’m going to get people to sit down and talk” isn’t a solution at all.

It was let’s sit down and talk “about spending money” that put us into this mess. Right?

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