That's how much Meg Whitman's campaign says she has committed to spend in the race to succeed Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R), and run a state that faces severe economic hardship.

A release from the former eBay executive's campaign this morning spells out her latest contribution:

CUPERTINO - Meg Whitman, Republican candidate for Governor, today announced that she has contributed an additional $20 million to her campaign. In addition to her personal contributions, Whitman raised more than $10.2 million from outside contributors in 2009 and raised more than $1.6 million from contributors in 2010.

"Meg is committed to creating jobs for California, restoring fiscal discipline in Sacramento and winning this race on Election Day," said Campaign Manager Jillian Hasner. "Whether it's facing down the powerful public employee unions who are propping up Jerry Brown or our well-financed primary opponent, Meg's campaign will have the resources necessary to fight back."

Whitman leads former Gov. and current Attorney General Jerry Brown by 1.6 percent in the RCP Average. Polls show her well ahead in the June 8 Republican primary.

Nevada Gov. Jim Gibbons' (R) political obituary had already been written. But a new Rasmussen poll (500 LVs, 3/31, MoE +/- 4.5%) finds that the embattled first-term leader may yet have a pulse as he runs for re-election. His approval rating has ticked up 5 points since the last poll on March 3, and is now nearly identical to President Obama's in the Silver State. More importantly, he has pulled even with likely Democratic nominee Rory Reid (D).

General Election Matchups
Gibbons 45 (+9 vs. last poll, 3/3)
Reid 43 (-1)
Und 4 (unch)

Sandoval 55 (+2)
Reid 34 (-1)
Und 4 (-1)

Montandon 45 (+3)
Reid 38 (+1)
Und 8 (unch)

Brian Sandoval is still the GOP favorite in the race. But a February Mason Dixon poll showed the governor narrowing the gap in the primary, set for June 8.

Reid, son of the Senate majority leader, still appears hobbled by his father's struggles; 37 percent of voters view him very unfavorably, 2 points higher even than Gibbons. But 17 percent view him very favorably, second only to Sandoval in that category

Favorable Ratings
Gibbons 35 / 62
Montandon 35 / 32
Sandoval 49 / 29
Reid 36 / 53

We're still waiting on a decision from Tommy Thompson about whether he'll challenge Sen. Russ Feingold (D-WI). But a new poll today gives him more to think about as he explores that possibility, with a St. Norbert College Survey for Wisconsin Public Radio (400 RVs, 3/23-31, MoE +/- 5%) showing him with a double-digit lead.

Senate General Election Matchups
Thompson 45
Feingold 33
Generic Independent 14
Und 7

Feingold 40
Generic Republican 37
Generic Independent 12
Und 10

In the governor's race, Republicans appear to have a real fight on their hands in the primary between Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker and former Rep. Mark Neumann. Walker leads Neuman 24-23 in a primary matchup, with 33 percent undecided. But either man would be considered an early favorite in November against Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett.

General Election Matchups
Neumann 43 -- Barrett 29 -- Und 17
Walker 44 -- Barrett 28 -- Und 14

You can see the RCP Average for both races here and here.

Only 34 percent of Wisconsins approve of retiring Gov. Jim Doyle's (D) job performance, while 50 percent disapprove. It's his lowest-ever approval rating in the survey.

With his wife still recovering from a serious car accident in the D.C. area and facing a difficult political landscape back home, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid kicked off his campaign yesterday in Searchlight, Nevada, for a fifth term in office.

Reid's had close races before. Prior to a 61% victory in 2004, Reid won his three previous terms with just 48%, 51% and 50% of the vote. However, after a new Rasmussen poll yesterday found him trailing a Republican opponent by as much as 15 points, Reid could be in for the most challenging race of his life.

He trails former Nevada GOP Chair Sue Lowden by nearly 12 points in the RCP Average, and the state is listed as Lean Republican on the RCP Battle For The Senate map.

"I'm not a big poll guy," Reid told the Las Vegas Review-Journal yesterday aboard his campaign bus. "Everyone who knows me knows I have never paid attention to polls. The only poll that matters is the one on Election Day."

As always, Monday's polling covers the weekend as well.

Presidential Tracking Polls

It was a rough weekend for President Obama in the Gallup tracking poll.   His job approval rating dropped two points to 48%; but his disapproval ticked up to 46%.  The movement is consistent with what we've seen since the passage of health care reform – his numbers seem to be oscillating around a mean that's a point or two better than it was before the passage of health care reform.

Rasmussen told a different strory.  Obama's “strongly approve/strongly disapprove” numbers rose to 34%/41%.  That's the highest “strongly approve” number since September of last year.  While the "strongly disapprove" number is also higher, it is nevertheless a substantial improvement for the President in his "net" score.  49% approve of the job he's doing, while 51% disapprove.  While some accuse Rasmussen of having a conservative bias, he's now showing some of the better numbers for the President.

Gallup also found, consistent with other pollsters, that President Obama's issue approval ratings are significantly lower than his overall approval rating.  His approval on foreign affairs rests at 48%/46%.  His healthcare approval rose after the passage of healthcare, but is still upside down at 42%/54%.  He fares significantly worse regarding the economy, the Israeli/Palestinian conflict and the federal budget deficit, at 37%/61%, 31%/52%, and 31%/64% respectively.

Senate

It was a slow polling day.  The only major Senate news was Rasmussen's latest poll of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's Senate race.    Reid trails the GOP frontrunner, former Republican state GOP chair Sue Lowden, at 54%-39%.  His numbers against the other GOP'ers in the field, Danny Tarkanian and former Assemblywoman Sharon Angle, are only somewhat better:  He trails them 49%-42% and 51%-40% respectively.

The odds are getting longer and longer on a Reid comeback.  He's been on the air for quite some time now, and still struggles to get above 40% of the vote.  His best chance is that one of the many third party candidates breaks out and siphons off some of the anti-Reid votes.  This is at least a Lean Republican race right now.

Governor

California:  The LA Times poll, conducted jointly by a respected Republican and Democratic polling firms, shows Meg Whitman the prohibitive favorite in the Republican primary, leading conservative businessman Steve Poizner 60%-20%.  Obviously both candidates will be well-funded, which could enable Poizner to break out, but the June 8 primary isn't really all that far off.  Poizner needs to make a move, and soon.

In the general election, Whitman leads former Governor Jerry Brown 44%-41%.  RCP has the race as a tossup, and if forced to make a call, we still tilt it toward Brown, even though Whitman has led in the polls since mid-March.  Given the overall tilt of the state, we still expect Brown to break through in the end, but it really is anyone's race at this point.

House

Nothing today.

Miscellany

In contrast to CNN's polling from Friday, Rasmussen's “which party do you trust” polling shows pretty consistent movement toward the GOP, with the GOP opening up large leads on just about every issue.  The only lead for Democrats came on ethics, where GOP scandals from the late 00's still seem to weigh on them.  The biggest net shifts of 13% and 11% came on health care and abortion, respectively.  The results from the polling:

Economy:  37% Dem, 49% GOP

National Security: 36% Dem, 51% GOP

Iraq:  39% Dem, 47% GOP

Health Care:  37% Dem, 53% GOP

Education:  40% Dem, 43% GOP

Immigration:  34% Dem, 47% GOP

Social Security:  36% Dem, 48% GOP

Taxes:  34% Dem, 52% GOP

Ethics:  35% Dem, 33% GOP

Abortion:  32% Dem, 47% GOP

Rasmussen also finds that 54% of the public still favors the repeal of the health care law, while 42% oppose repeal.

CBS News also released polling about the health care law.  It found that 32% were for it, while 53% opposed it.  This is by far the worst number for the health care bill in any CBS News poll to date, which has typically been favorable toward the President.  Only 27% of Independents approve of the bill; only 17% of Americans believe the bill will help them personally.  Majorities of Americans believe that the law will increase their premiums, 3/4 believe their health care quality will get worse or stay the same, and 2/3 believe the bill will increase the budget deficit.  The only real good news for the bill is that about 1/3 of Americans, a plurality, believe that the bill will increase consumer protections against health care costs.



For the second consecutive cycle, Republicans and Democrats will hold their presidential nominating conventions in back-to-back weeks. The Democratic National Committee announced today that the party will hold its gathering on the week of September 3, 2012. Republicans are due to meet the week of August 27; in 2008, Democrats held their convention first.

Democrats did not announce a list of possible venues, however. Republicans have said they will choose from three finalist cities: Salt Lake City, Phoenix and Tampa. But in a blog post announcing the date, chairman Tim Kaine makes one thing clear:

At the convention, we will re-nominate President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden, and re-affirm our party's values of equality, inclusion, diversity, and respect.

The statement is noteworthy only considering the fact that many in Washington have at some point had a conversation about whether there's a chance Biden could be replaced on the ticket in two years. Of course, it also signals confidence that a significant primary challenger to the president won't emerge.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid garners just 39% support and trails by 15 points in a potential Nevada Senate matchup against former state GOP Chair Sue Lowden, a new Rasmussen poll finds (March 31, 500 LV, MoE +/- 4.5%).

Reid also trails Republicans Danny Tarkanian and Sharron Angle in general election matchups, getting no more than 42% support. The numbers are just the latest in a long string of poor polling for Reid, who formally kicked off his campaign today.

Lowden 54 (+3 vs. last poll, March 5)
Reid 39 (+1)
Und 2

Tarkanian 49 (-1)
Reid 42 (+5)
Und 2

Angle 51 (+5)
Reid 40 (+2)
Und 3

RCP currently rates Nevada as Lean Republican. Click through to see all the polling conducted on this race.

Patrick McIlheran breaks down Russ Feingold's chances this year.

President Obama threw out the first pitch at Nationals Park today, honoring a now 100-year-old tradition. Hoping to make up for the dribbler he launched at the 2009 All-Star game, Obama hurled a pitch to Nats third baseman Ryan Zimmerman that was high and outside.

Obama caused a bit of a stir as he stepped on the mound wearing a Nationals jacket -- then donned a White Sox cap.

The president appeared 45 minutes later in the local TV broadcast booth, where the announcers had Obama watch a replay of his pitch on a monitor.

“This is heart-breaking right here,” Obama said, watching himself on-screen. “You know what breaks your heart on these, is you're down there practicing -- throwing strikes, heat. You come out here, the thing slips out of your hand a little bit.”

Obama credited the height of Zimmerman, who was awarded with 2009 Gold Glove and Silver Slugger trophies before the game, for allowing him to catch the off-the-mark pitch.

Last week I noted the difficulty that Democrats were having fielding candidates in downticket races in Missouri.  This problem seems to have spread to South Dakota, where the party failed to field anyone to take on first-term Senator John Thune, who narrowly defeated Sen. Majority Leader Tom Daschle in 2004.

In the gubernatorial race, Republicans are headed for a potentially brutal three-way primary in June.  For now, Lieutenant Governor Dennis Daugaard has to be considered the frontrunner, but State Senators Dave Knudson and Gordon Howie are likely to have enough funds to get their message out.  As Knudson notes, in a small state like South Dakota, a little money goes a long way, and reporters need look back to further than Mike Rounds' 2002 victory to see evidence that the underdog can come from behind.  The winner will take on State Senator Scott Heidepriem in November.  A recent Rasmussen poll showed Republicans pretty well in control of the race for now.

Incidentally, the South Dakota Senate has only 35 members, which means nearly 10% of the Senate is running for Governor.