ST. PAUL -- On this week's edition of the Capital Notes Podcast, a closer look at two California Republicans who were getting attention this week not for what they do now... but for what they might want to do in the future.

Steve Poizner, the state insurance commissioner, and Meg Whitman, former eBay CEO and a top advisor to presidential nominee John McCain, are both being watched for possible forays into the 2010 race for governor.

Both come across as middle-of-the-road pragmatists, which means that politicos think they could have a strong chance to succeed Arnold Schwarzenegger -- a rare feat these days in Democratically strong California.

I sat down with both of them this week at the GOP convention. By the way... back to the state budget fracas, and more, next week.

ST. PAUL -- And now, the day they've been waiting for.

Last night's big speech from the new VP candidate was big, but this is the night the Republican National Convention is all about: Sen. John McCain's acceptance of the nomination, and his prime-time speech to the nation.

California's delegates had this morning to themselves for a change, with no planned events. The bar here at the Sheraton Bloomington was packed after Gov. Sarah Palin's big appearance last night, and stayed so until well after midnight (some of us went to bed about 1:30 am), so I'm guessing the Golden State crowd enjoyed the extra rest.

On this morning's edition of The California Report, we examined the GOP effort to court Latino voters in the November election, even as the party's delegation to the RNC underrepresents these key voters relative to their population back home (official statistics show the California delegation is 90% Caucasian, 6% Latino, 3% Asian American, and 1% African American).

Also worth noting is Wednesday morning's story profiling former eBay CEO Meg Whitman, who some think could be a formidable statewide candidate in California once she completes her work this fall with Team McCain.

In tomorrow's CN podcast, more from Whitman and another likely GOP candidate for the state's highest office, Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner.

More tidbits and photos later in the day...

ST. PAUL -- Tonight, she'll finally speak for herself.

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has been virtually hidden during the first two days of the Republican National Convention. Unlike Sen. Joe Biden, the Democratic veep nominee who was often seen laughing and applauding while sitting in the audience in Denver, Palin has been invisible. That's obviously a reaction to the intense media spotlight that was switched on by revelations of her teenage daughter's pregnancy.

Delegates are angry. At Palin? Nope. At the media? Absolutely.

"The New York Times doing three front page stories on her children? " said Rep. Dan Lungren (R-Gold River) shortly after Tuesday night's convention business. "I think [that's] beyond the pale. But I think the American people will react against that."

And he wasn't alone. That sentiment -- that reporters have pushed this story far beyond where it should be -- pulses through just about all of the die-hard Republicans inside the Xcel Center.

Palin gives her acceptance speech tonight. Also on tap: the formal nomination of both the Alaskan veep and Sen. John McCain as the GOP presidential nominee.

And some big speaking roles, too, for Californians. Most notable: former eBay CEO Meg Whitman, McCain's top economic advisor and someone at least a few California Republicans hope might make a bid for statewide office in the near future. Also scheduled to speak are Rosario Marin, former Treasurer of the U.S. and a top aide to Governor Schwarzenegger these days; and state Sen. Abel Maldonado (R-Santa Maria).

By the way, the three sitting GOP legislators picked to be California delegates have landed in the Twin Cities... facing lots of questions from reporters about their travel plans in light of the now record-setting state budget impasse. Those legislators: Sen. Dick Ackerman (R-Irvine), Assemblymember Bonnie Garcia (R-Cathedral City), and Assemblymember Van Tran (R-Garden Grove).

Ackerman's response: what budget?

"As soon as we have something to vote on, I'll be there," said Ackerman. "We're not going to be voting on [the GOP budget plan] until Friday or Monday." Ackerman, you may remember, was until recently the leader of Republicans in the state Senate... and perhaps feeling as though the budget is now in someone else's hands, decided to slip away for the convention fun.

Meantime, a little behind the scenes footage of life here at the Xcel Center...

Where are the protesters that are making news? Ummm, not close:

And as you see those signs all pop up in the audience tonight, keep in mind that it doesn't all just happen by accident:

11:59 pm: Well, it was quite the evening, with the conventioneers loving the red meat thrown to them from the podium by Gov. Sarah Palin. California delegates riding back to their hotel tonight especially like Palin's adlib about the difference between a "hockey mom" and a pit bull... the hockey mom wears lipstick. And they were riled up a different way about their feeling that the "liberal media" panned Palin's speech.

Meantime... a few photos:

Do you think he'd really need a Teleprompter if asked to speak from the podium?

GOP delegates arriving on Wednesday night found these little slips of paper on their seats giving them some pretty specific instructions. Too specific, perhaps? That last chant on the list is really hard to get right.

The big video wall behind Gov. Sarah Palin flashed all kinds of scenic American vistas as she spoke. But this one seemed especially interesting for us Californians. The Santa Monica Pier is a great place to be... but it's also a city solidly in the camp of Democrats. Couldn't they have picked Disneyland? At least it's in GOP friendly Anaheim.

And a photo not taken tonight... of actor Stephen Baldwin, one of the only celebrities spotted at GOPalooza. Baldwin was chowing down at one of the concession stands and charging his iPhone at the same time in an outlet next to a nearby women's restroom. I picked up the camera, but was intimidated by the large mobster-looking guy sitting next to Baldwin and giving me the evil eye.

As always, more photos on our KQED Flickr page.

ST. PAUL -- And now back to our regularly scheduled programming.

The Republican National Convention is back with a full schedule as muggy, wet weather sinks in on the Twin Cities. California delegates have a full day planned. In fact, I'm not sure I can keep up with them; there's a "Bloody Mary Brunch" this morning on the shores of Lake Minnetonka, and the day goes all the way until a soiree that runs until 2:00 a.m. Wow.

My day began early, tagging along with Meg Whitman, former CEO of eBay and close confidant of Sen. John McCain. Whitman, as you might know, is the subject of an awful lot of buzz in California political circles; more on her coming up in tomorrow's reporting.

Meantime...

That Makes Two Against Taxes: The budget stalemate back in Sacramento may have kept some legislators and Governor Schwarzenegger away from the big party here in Minnesota, but it's certainly on the minds of the California Republicans who are here. And today, the only Republican holding statewide office other than the guv said he opposes Schwarzenegger's bid for a tax increase to help close the $15 billion budget gap.

Steve Poizner, the state's insurance commissioner and a man considering a 2010 gubernatorial race, said the sales tax increase put on the table by the current guv is a bad idea.

"I don't support a tax increase as part of the package," Poizner said in an interview this morning here at the delegation hotel. "It would depress the economy. Wrong move."

When pressed, Poizner expressed a view that sounds similar to those from legislative Republicans -- a solution that relies, in part, on more spending cuts and some kind of borrowing. "We simply can't impose new taxes on Californians right now." That being said, the insurance commissioner did endorse Schwarzenegger's intent to find a long-term solution to the state's budget woes.

You can hear his full comments below.

On Monday, former Governor Pete Wilson said essentially the same thing on the sales tax proposal. "I don't support it," he told reporters. "One of the starting points for [current lawmakers] might be to go back to what the spending was at the end of [19]98 and look at how it spiked way past growth in population and inflation. And then start to make some cuts."

Wilson's comments are below, beginning with my question on the governor's sales tax plan.

11:59 pm -- The convention day has ended, and so a few random tidbits to round out the day.

Palin Fan Strikes Back: Sentiment on the convention floor in favor of Gov. Sarah Palin is running strong, as evident by this delegate's self-made hat she wore Tuesday night (not a CA delegate). Most delegates I spoke to believe Palin's been getting a raw deal from the press, though some privately still worry that the veep vetting process was not all it could've been.

My Exclusive: Yes, I managed to snag some private time with the man from Arizona. Funny, though, I couldn't get him to comment on anything.

Sorry I Missed You. Love, Arnold: The state delegation and guests ended Tuesday night with a post-convention bash at the Nicollet Island Pavillion in Minneapolis. The party was festive with food and drink. And the conventioneers all were offered a gift on the way out, courtesy of the guv and the Motion Picture Association of America: free DVDs of various movies. Of course, there were the Schwarzenegger classics like Terminator 3, Twins, and Conan The Barbarian. There were also some newer flicks, like Transformers and Live Free or Die Hard. Some were even high definition DVDs... but with a hitch: they were "HD-DVD" format, which as you know, was phased out by Toshiba earlier this year. Rummage sale, anyone?

As always, more photos on our special KQED RNC Flickr page.

ST. PAUL -- The first day of this 2008 Republican National Convention will likely be remembered for what didn't happen.

With a whole day of whooping and hollering and celebrating all planned and ready to go, convention organizers have pulled the plug on all but the most formal items after the serious news from Hurricane Gustav literally threw water on all of that.

And yet, there's still a party underway... just a little less obvious. Delegates from California and across the nation were out in full force last night at dozens of private parties, many thrown by influential organizations and lobbyists. As someone who briefly sneaked in to an event featuring rocker Sammy Hagar, I can tell you it was still a big celebration... and a loud one, at that.

[Check back through the day to see what's popped up]

11:15 am -- California's delegation just wrapped up its breakfast gathering... a two hour breakfast event at the host hotel in the suburbs of Bloomington, Minn. And while the marching orders nationally are to ease up on the partisanship, one prominent Californian was having none of it: former Governor Pete Wilson.

"The audacity that Barack Obama is offering to us and our children," said Wilson, "is not new. "The audacity that he is offering us, quite frankly, is socialism."

Wilson went on to describe veep candidate (and Alaska Governor) Sarah Palin as someone who has "moxie." And state GOP chairman Ron Nehring went further, calling Palin "America's Margaret Thatcher."

The events now move to the Xcel Center for a brief afternoon schedule.

2:00 pm -- Curious as to what kinds of goodies get handed out to Californians arriving for the big event?

2:15 pm -- After a bus ride into downtown St. Paul with members of the California delegation... a bus ride where, I kid you not, the driver circled around lost for at least 15 minutes, we arrived to join the throng of GOP'ers descending on the Excel Center. Unfortunately, it appears my press credential is the wrong color. I've since learned that the journalistic caste I'm in qualifies me only for a rotating floor pass, i.e. one that's shared. So I'm now making my way back around this behemoth of a building to get in line with all the other little people.

Epilogue: Well, the day has come and gone. The official business of the convention was short, and the California delegation headed out to its evening soiree, albeit one redesigned to include raising money for hurricane victims.

Photos I've added from Day 1 can be seen by clicking on the icon below. More tomorrow...

www.flickr.com KQED.Radio's '08 Republican National Convention photoset

BUDGET DAY PLUS 59 -- And now, the non-news.

Today's Senate budget vote was, as expected, unproductive. We were also unable to get our schedule in order today for the Capital Notes Podcast, but will be back on track next week. And I'm traveling this weekend to Minnesota for next week's Republican National Convention (my colleague Scott Shafer's coverage of the Democrats is here).

More from Minneapolis and St. Paul on Monday.

BUDGET DAY PLUS 58 -- In hopes of ending a budget stalemate that's so far looked to be one for the record books, the state Senate tomorrow will vote on a budget plan that hinges on the chances of a few Republicans breaking with their party leadership and voting aye.

The overview budget document distributed this afternoon by Senate President pro Tem Don Perata's office is a modfied form of Governor Schwarzeneggrer's "August Revise" proposal.

Most notably, Senate Democrats are accepting Schwarzenegger's temporary sales tax increase, but rejecting his call to then lower the current state sales tax. The plan also calls for slightly more state spending than the governor has proposed.

And in what could be considered a major concession, it keeps intact Schwarzenegger's call for a larger rainy day fund for state government as well as Schwarzenegger's demand for new gubernatorial power to unilaterally cut spending if the budget gets out of whack in the middle of the year.

The intrigue, of course, is whether at least two GOP senators will break ranks and vote for the proposal. A written statement from Senate GOP Leader Dave Cogdill makes it clear the proposal is not going to get his vote.

Of course, approval in the Senate would only mean that the budget plan then lands in the lap of the Assembly, where its tax increase proposal would need at least six GOP votes... a much tougher task.

Still, tomorrow's vote does symbolize some movement on the budget front... even if only to force an actual floor debate on budget priorities of the two sides.

BUDGET DAY PLUS 57 -- If legislators are hoping that a raid on money from voter-approved programs is the fallback solution to the ongoing budget saga, they're not going to like the message Governor Schwarzenegger delivered today at an event in southern California.

"It is time to stop putting people through this budget roller coaster ride," he said this morning. "It is time for Sacramento to have the guts and the vision to solve this budget problem once and for all."

The governor's comments at a news conference with local government officials again confirms just how stuck budget talks are here in the state Capitol.

And with every day that now passes, the impact will become more obvious to ordinary folks.

Two significant state payments that were supposed to go out today have now been put on hold: more than $434 million owed to community colleges and more than $1.3 billion in monthly payments to K-12 education. Remember, only two budget impasses have lasted longer than this one... and the all-time record delay in legislative approval is now just four days away. And no one really knows the full effect of what happens by next week.

But the way around the big philosophical budget dispute -- a short-term borrowing of money reserved for various services -- seems to be losing steam.

On Monday, Assembly Speaker Karen Bass was asked about whether she and Assembly GOP Leader Mike Villines were discussing just such a borrowing plan. Bass deflected the point of the question, but reminded reporters that the only other options for closing the $15 billion gap -- more cuts or new taxes -- are essentially off the table.

Schwarzenegger made it clear days ago that he opposes a borrowing plan to break the impasse; today's event was probably designed to remind everyone of where he stands. And local officials in Los Angeles were only too happy to back that up.

"We want the Legislature to know that we are not going to tolerate another raid on local government funds," said LA County Supervisor Don Knabe. "We are watching. We won't tolerate it, we won't accept it."

BUDGET DAY PLUS 55 -- On this balmy Sacramento afternoon, while the political eyeballs are fixated eastward in Denver, it's worth noting that Sunday is the next milestone in California's state budget morass.

No deal by that day will make this budget stalemate the longest in Golden State history. And there's not even a whiff in the air of any kind of deal that will stop such history from being made. In fact, just the opposite.

"There's no huge deal that we're getting ready to pop up in the next few days," said Assembly Speaker Karen Bass.

Bass' reality check, though she says she remains optimistic, was made this afternoon in a brief chat with reporters in her Capitol office.

Both houses of the Legislature are officially in session, and for now it appears only a handful of Democrats sneaked off to the Mile High City. Speaker Bass pretty much closed the door on her own travel plans, telling reporters today that she has no plans to set aside budget business and jump on a plane, even for a scheduled fundraising event in Denver.

And her comments on budget negotiations help reinforce the notion that things remain very much stuck.

That was best exemplified by Bass' tentative comments on chatter about any deal making in the Assembly that would involve borrowing funds from local government, tobacco taxes, and others.

In summarizing her talks with Assembly GOP Leader Mike Villines, Bass laid out the issue thusly:

"He is very clear that [Republicans] will not vote for taxes. And I am very clear that [Democrats] cannot balance the budget through cuts alone. And so we have to find a way to fill the $15 billion gap."

That certainly sounds like the borrowing plan... which probably won't fully close the gap but would bring the numbers much closer together... may be the way out.

The speaker said more worrisome than a raid on these voter-approved funds would be the expensive Wall Street borrowing needed to keep the state afloat if the impasse drags on much longer.

Nonetheless, Bass denied that such a borrowing scheme is the only option. She again suggested the closing of so-called tax loopholes. But few Capitol budget watchers believe that there's enough money to be found in scaling back and/or erasing tax credits.

And so the standoff continues. For those who've forgotten, the record for late budgets was set in 2002; that summer's morass ended with approval of a budget by the Legislature on August 31 and signing by Governor Gray Davis on September 5.

[update: The original posting had the wrong dates in it... thanks to the quick eyes to keep me straight --JM]

BUDGET DAY PLUS 52 -- On this week's edition (a second edition!) of the Capital Notes Podcast, we focus on this week's budget talk... from Governor Schwarzenegger's new budget offering to the consensus that this impasse/logjam is alive and well.

We also examine Capitol Weekly's new rankings of the most conservative and liberal members of the Legislature.

Capitol Weekly editor Anthony York and I also chat about the chance that these embattled legislators may miss their political conventions because of the budget saga. Perish the thought.

And did we mention that the deadlock just passed last year's budget in lateness?