Meg Whitman, Carly Fiorina Shun Sarah Palin Event

Are Meg and Carly running away from Sarah?

​It seems the two Republican women running for office in California don't want to self-apply the label "Mama Grizzly" anytime soon.

The New York Times reports that both Meg Whitman and Carly Fiorina will be passing on the "final path to victory" rally in Orange County next Saturday at which Sarah Palin will be whipping up last-minute conservative support alongside Michael Steele, chairman of the Republican National Committee. The two candidates' aides told the Times that they had conflicting campaign events. Basically, this the adult equivalent of not wanting to be seen at Palin's lunch table.

While Palin's endorsement is golden in redder and more Tea Partyish states, here in blue California, the former Alaska governor would simply make the independent voters that Whitman and Fiorina are trying to swing their way swing elswhere.

(Here in San Francisco, the only Palin appearance that garners support is a gallery opening at which she is the subject of satirical art. Check out "nailin palin (doggy style)," a painting showing at the Market Street Gallery, depicting the queen of Drill Baby Drill getting, err, drilled by a dog. Oh my.)

The Times makes a good point, that, "given the political makeup of the state," it would be more of a shock if the two Republican candidates deigned to show up instead of bowing out: "Indeed, the bigger question may be why Mr. Steele and Ms. Palin decided to hold a rally like that in this state at this time, putting their already struggling candidates at the top of the ticket in a potential awkward spot."

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