Whitman leads

A new USC/Los Angeles Times poll (pdf) has California gubernatorial candidate, Meg Whitman, ahead of the GOP pack, although less convincingly than last week's Capitol Weekly/Probolsky Research poll, which found her leading her closest rival by 22%.

Sunday's poll has Whitman leading Tom Campbell 35%-27%, while Steve Poizner continues to trail at just 10%.

One more note: Carly Fiorina is tied with Chuck Devore (27%-27%) for the right to take on Barbara Boxer in the 2010 Senate election.

That should give DeVore backers a nice boost of morale, but there are a few things to note.

1. The undecideds are huge. The most engaged Republicans at this point are likely to be conservative activists, who would theoretically gravitate toward DeVore.

2. This doesn't prove DeVore is as viable a general election candidate. a) He doesn't have the money Fiorina does and b) his ideology runs much further to the right than California's electorate.

[Hat tip: The Fix]