Republicans drop millions in Calif. primary

The Republican gubernatorial primary in California could cost more than $100 million as the two wealthy frontrunners continue to spend their own fortunes attacking each other.
 
Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner released his latest salvo earlier this week, using a Web video to argue that former eBay CEO Meg Whitman created a "special site for the sale of pornography and sex paraphernalia."
 
"Meg Whitman oversaw the creation of a special website just to sell pornography and amassed millions in profits from it," Poizner spokeswoman Bettina Inclan said in a statement. "If Californians wanted a governor who made a fortune off pornography, then Larry Flynt would now be in office."
 
The Whitman camp noted that Poizner's outlandish attack was released shortly after former Vice President Dick Cheney endorsed Whitman in an op-ed in the Orange County Register.

"Is Steve Poizner seriously trying to tell us that eBay is a pornography site?," Whitman spokesman Dan Comstock said in a statement. "eBay's millions of users, including my grandmother, will find that a little hard to believe. Steve Poizner is desperate. He lacks momentum. He lacks grassroots support. Most of all, he lacks honesty."
 
Whitman once had a commanding lead in this race but polls were showing it tightening in recent weeks, after Poizner attacked her in a TV ad which said she profited from home foreclosures in California. But the Whitman camp says that it's now beginning to put distance between them again.
 
Still, that hasn't stopped Whitman from pumping another $4 million from her own fortune into her campaign. Ahead of the June 8 primary, Whitman has spent a total of $68 million on her bid, while Poizner has cut checks for $24 million.