THE POLITICAL LANDSCAPE:

Rep. John Campbell sees a silver lining in his man Mitt Romney’s second-place losses in both the New Hampshire primary and Iowa Caucus.

Everyone forgets Romney won a quiet victory Jan. 5 in Wyoming’s caucuses, Campbell said Wednesday. None of the other top GOP candidates campaigned there.

“That’s two silvers and a gold the way I see it,” Campbell said of Romney’s recent results.

Campbell said he is endorsing former Massachusetts Gov. Romney because of his ability to solve large-scale problems in a scientific, nonpartisan way.

STATE MONEY WOES COULD AFFECT COUNTY

With a bleak economic landscape and a massive state budget deficit looming overhead, Supervisor John Moorlach became chairman of the Orange County Board of Supervisors earlier this week.

The position is mostly a ceremonial one, with little additional power, but past chairmen have used the position to set political agendas, and they also can appoint members of their choosing to various boards and commissions. As Moorlach prepares to deliver his State of the County address Jan. 29, he has concerns about how the economy and state spending could affect the county in the coming year.

“The big question is how the economy is going to affect the real estate market, which affects property tax revenue and jobs, which affects the real estate market, which affects taxes and so forth,” Moorlach said Wednesday.

Another concern for county officials in the coming year is the projected $14 billion state budget deficit next year.

Money woes in Sacramento create a butterfly effect in county government, Moorlach said, and the county is reliant on state grants for some projects. Gov. Schwarzenegger warned of deep budget cuts in his State of the State address earlier this week.

A very real possibility exists that the state could raid county coffers later this year if money gets too tight, Moorlach said. Schwarzenegger employed a similar strategy in 2003-2004 when the state took away money that city and county governments across the state squirreled away for a rainy day. County officials are looking at different ways to prevent that from happening, Moorlach said, so stay tuned for specifics.

“People are going to have to get used to the idea that it’s not all going to be good news this year,” Moorlach said.

BRIANNA BAILEY may be reached at (714) 966-4625 or at [email protected].