THE GOLD IS TARNISHED - AT 9:54 A.M. ET:  California is, of course, our most populous state.  It is being hit hard economically, and that can have a ripple effect across the United States.  It's a state that travels by car, and car sales have to be affected by this.  From The New York Times:

LOS ANGELES — California’s unemployment rate in August hit its highest point in nearly 70 years, starkly underscoring how the nation’s incipient economic recovery continues to elude millions of Americans looking for work.

While job losses continue to fall, the state’s new unemployment rate — 12.2 percent, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics — is far above the national average of 9.7 percent and places California, the nation’s most-populous state, fourth behind Michigan, Nevada and Rhode Island. Statistics kept by the state show California’s unemployment rate was 14.7 percent in 1940, said Kevin Callori, a spokesman for the California Employment Development Department.

COMMENT:  There could be political implications as well, but only if the Republican Party comes alive in California, and starts building constituencies among the state's diverse groups.  Barbara Boxer, not one of the Senate's bright lights, is vulnerable next year, and the governorship will be open. 

Republicans used to be elected routinely in California, especially that Reagan chap, but in recent years the party had to turn to Arnold to win the governor's chair.  Those electoral votes look awfully tempting, but the GOP has surrendered the state in recent years. 

September 19, 2009