New in Capitol Weekly

The following first appeard in Capitol Weekly The art of ad buying Gov. pays top dollar for ads, has yet to book final weeks The rumors spread quickly, from one media buyer to another, whispers of a new player in the special election--one going by the name of California Republicans for Public Schools. No one at the Alliance for a Better California, the union coalition lined up to oppose Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's initiatives, could even confirm the group's existence, though the new campaign group had supposedly spent much of the last week inquiring about buying television ads across California. Rumors of shadow campaign groups, and potential six- or seven-figure ad purchases are all part of the head-faking that media buyers perform as they jockey for any edge they can get in high-stakes, high-cost world of television ad purchasing. Now the governor's political foes are wondering whether Schwarzenegger's campaign is playing coy, or is just low on cash. Schwarzenegger's California Recovery Team has spent relatively little money on television this year, and has not booked any television advertisements for the final two weeks of the campaign, according to public records and sources in and out of the television industry... Read the rest here. Also, this week I have pieces on local initiatives on the fall ballot. And a look ahead at next year's budget.