Monday morning headlines

Political commerce: L.A. remains by far the top market for political ads so far this year. Through Aug. 13, $76 million has been spent, followed by SF at $43 million and San Diego at $28 million. No coincidence that the top three cities are in California, considering all the big bucks going into the gubernatorial race. Good news for local broadcasters, though much of the action will likely go to cable. From the WSJ:

Some statewide candidates, such as California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, have been on the air for months -- on both broadcast TV and cable -- with ads aimed at redefining the race and getting a head start on the competition. Not coincidentally, Mr. Schwarzenegger's team includes several of the main architects behind Mr. Bush's re-election campaign, including ad guru Alex Castellanos, pollster and strategist Matthew Dowd and campaign manager Steve Schmidt, who did rapid response for Mr. Bush's campaign.

The governor spent more than $16 million during the first half of the year and more than $7 million of that total was spent on television ads, campaign finance records show. Democrat Phil Angelides has spent $21 million on television ads during the first half of the year, but much of that effort was spent in a nasty gubernatorial primary battle, which he won by just 4% in June.

The daily Cruise: Is the Paramount mud-slinging by CAA President Richard Lovett just playacting? An LAT news analysis suggests that in the end, both sides need each other - underscored by more than a dozen movie projects at Paramount that involve CAA clients.

Luxury car push: AutoNation CEO Mike Jackson is worried about an economic downturn, even talking recession in a speech to 2,500 employees of AutoNation's Socal dealers. The answer? Focus on luxury models. Lexus, Mercedes-Benz and BMW account for 22 percent of sales, double that of 1999.

Holiday forecast: Not much change in travel patterns expected this Labor Day weekend. Nearly 3.1 million Southern Californians are expected to drive, fly or ride to holiday destinations during the three-day holiday - and with gasoline prices headed south, the number might even be a bit higher. The Auto Club expects 80 percent of those travelers will be driving at least 50 miles by car.

ER blues: The likely closure of the emergency room at Memorial Hospital in Inglewood brings to mind the after-effects of Tenet Healthcare Corp. selling off its Southern California hospitals and whether the new owners, many of them private investment groups, can provide a communities with the necessary services while also turning a big enough profit.

Dick's Place?: The Downtown News reports that former Mayor Richard Riordan is considering a bar/steakhouse in the space adjacent to the Original Pantry Café at the northwest corner of Figueroa and Ninth streets. The new place would occupy space being used as overflow seating. With the Staples-related developments, that corner is looking pretty prime.

Pluto's the thing: I've always felt that you can make most anything a business story, but the marketing buzz over all things Pluto seemed to come out of nowhere. Lots of examples, including Los Angeles-based Web programmer Chris Spurgeon who designed a bumper sticker that shows a Hubble Space Telescope image and the slogan, "Honk if Pluto is still a planet." On Friday morning, Spurgeon had received 100 orders.