Sarah Palin speaks in Orange County, CA GOP rally without Whitman or Fiorina

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Today, former Alaska governor and conservative activist Sarah Palin spoke at a Republican rally in Orange County, California. However, neither of the major Republican political candidates, Meg Whitman (for governor) and Carly Fiorina (for US Senate), showed up. In fact, Fiorina was campaigning in El Dorado Hills today. Why would neither candidate want to be near Palin? The New York Times explains:

...Ms. Palin is a decidedly unpopular figure in the state, particularly with independent voters, and Republicans said it was probably not a good idea for Ms. Whitman or Ms. Fiorina to be seen at a campaign rally with her this close to Election Day.

Michael Steele, Republican Natl Cmte chairman, also participated in the OC rally today.

In contrast, former president Bill Clinton campaigned for Jerry Brown, the Democratic gubernatorial candidate, yesterday at UCLA, and will do it again tomorrow at San Jose State University (I'll be going!)

Shows a lot about Democratic and Republican confidence of how their icons appeal to independents. The Republicans see Palin as divisive, while the Democrats were A-OK with Clinton.

(I was about to put this in Latest Breaking News but decided that since this story is perhaps over 12 hours old and is irrelevant to the DU audience anyway I'll put it in the Bush/conservatives forum.)