Meg Whitman, the Republican candidate for governor, and Carly Fiorina, the Republican candidate for Senate, are both going to skip the rallies, aides to the two candidates said today. Both claimed previous campaign commitments. “It’s a national R.N.C. fundraiser, which we’re not planning to attend. We have competing campaign events that day,” said Tucker Bounds, an aide to Ms. Whitman.

The fact that these two Republican candidates would find someplace else to be on a Saturday afternoon less than a month before Election Day is not exactly a surprise, considering the political dynamics of this state. There are not enough Republican base voters out there to carry anyone to victory anymore in California. And independent voters – who have been the main target of Ms. Whitman in recent days – have a decidedly unfriendly view of Ms. Palin, here and across the country.