As he was climbing into the car to leave today’s campaign event at Laney College, Democratic gubernatorial nominee Jerry Brown was asked whether his campaign has the resources to run a competitive race with mega-spending Republican nominee Meg Whitman now that a union-based independent expenditure campaign on his behalf is backing off.

“I’ve been ready for all of my life” for this campaign, he said. “In fact, I’ve been preparing myself just for this and I think I’m going to be quite successful.”

As Brown was driven away, his campaign manager, Steve Glazer, was telling reporters the campaign does have the resources to compete, while Whitman’s “brand is soiled given the type of campaign she has conducted” – that is, mostly attack ads that Glazier said are based on lies.

Glazer said his campaign estimates the average Californian has had about 180 minutes of Meg Whitman’s messaging so far – maybe 300 commercials, maybe 30 or 60 seconds each. “People have gotten the full measure of her and what she stands for,” he said.

Yet for all the money she has spent, he said – more than $100 million from her own pocket so far – she hasn’t taken a lead in the race; Real Clear Politics shows four polls taken in the past two months average out to a dead heat (although the two more recent ones have gone in Whitman’s favor).

Meanwhile, I’d snapped a few photos of the rally on my iPhone, and I assure you, the “light from above” effect was entirely unintentional…