Arnold neck and neck

The latest Rasmussen poll shows I'm a bit of a pessimist for now:

The latest Rasmussen Reports election poll shows Schwarzenegger and State Treasurer Phil Angelides each with 45% support. When matched against State Controller Steve Westly, Schwarzenegger trails by two points, 46% to 44%.

But Rasmussen also notes what I've argued here:

Schwarzenegger will doubtless benefit from the spate of spit balls the Democratic candidates are hurling at each other as California's primary election, to be held June 6, approaches.

Until someone can argue that he won't benefit from the campaigns of Westly and Angelides against each other, I'd have to agree. In fact, Arnold's campaign is already gearing up for the eventual Democratic primary winner:

A representative for Schwarzenegger's re-election campaign said after the speech that both Angelides and Westly have a history of promoting taxes and "sound like typical politicians when they say, 'Well, I don't support those taxes anymore.'" The representative, Matt David, added, "California voters should know better than that."

Remember one of the things that doomed Grey Davis to defeat was the automatic increase to the state's car tax and Davis' refusal to lower it. It certainly had everyone I know up in arms and willing to vote for Arnold because of it, although it's possible I just knew the wrong people back then.

Either way, it's safe to say that the people of California dislike taxes more than they like Republicans pretending to be moderates. And that makes me a little nervous for the fall.