-- by Thomas D. Elias, Palo Alto Daily News:

Back in 1978, Tom Quinn, campaign manager of Jerry Brown's two previous runs for governor, observed that "It doesn't matter what you say or do before January 1 of an election year, because the voters will never remember."

In those days, long before the Internet and the seemingly ubiquitous YouTube videos, candidates often got away with saying something to an audience in one place and quite the opposite to another group elsewhere.

It's been awhile since anyone seriously tried testing these things, but Brown's big-spending Republican rival Meg Whitman frequently seems to be attempting to prove they're both still possible.

That's the best way to understand the conflicting messages she's purveyed since the June primary election via millions of dollars' worth of television and radio advertising aimed primarily at Hispanic voters, including many, many commercials aired on the Spanish-language Univision television network during its highly rated World Cup soccer broadcasts.

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