Judging by her schedule, Sheriff Sandra Hutchens has her eye squarely on 2010 and winning election to the job she has by appointment.

She's already spoken to the Republican Party of Orange County Central Committee. On Sunday, she was one of several elected officials who attended the opening of the OC GOP's Newport Beach election headquarters, where the addressed attendees and voiced her support for John McCain for President.

On Tuesday evening, it was meet-and-greet time with her supporters in the California Women's Leadership Association, a GOP women's group.

Today, Sheriff Hutchens will be having lunch with Republican uber-donor group The New Majority at The Islands Hotel in Newport Beach.

I don't know if the Sheriff has retained a professional campaign consultant as yet, but the self-described political novice is clearly being advised by knowledgeable minds to visit the abodes where GOP campaign donations and volunteers dwell.

Which makes perfect sense in a Republican county like OC. At some point, however, Hutchens will also have to begin reaching out to Democrats. Sheriff is a non-partisan, county-wide law enforcement position, after all.

That will be a test of her political skills. Does she begin courting OC Dems now, or wait until after the November election dust settles?

Her predecessor Mike Carona, although identified as part of the "OC GOP Machine," was actually very adept at courting Democratic support -- and without really alienating his GOP base. District Attorney Tony Rackauckas has always been able to garner bi-partisan support, and has done so without angering either side of the aisle.

Thus far, Hutchens' honeymoon stems in large part from being the unCarona. In the long run, however, that's not sufficient to sustain a strong election profile. After all, any potential June 2010 opponents can also lay claim to not being Mike Carona.

Hutchens benefits strongly from Carona fatigue and what I think is a desire, running across party lines, for an end to drama in the Office of the Sheriff. Frankly, I think she's an overwhelming favorite to be elected in her own right as long as she's able to avoid serious mistakes and/or alienating the AOCDS.

UPDATE (2:20 p.m.): Peggy Lowe linked to this post and fleshed out the story with reporting by Ron Campbell on various "Hutchens for Sheriff" domains registered within hours of her appointment -- and listed some that are still available.

I hope some Friend of Sandra has whipped out a credit card and snagged the leftovers befroe cybersquatters get those.

Some guy in Fresno grabbed ocblog.com just a month before I launched OC Blog (which is why it was originally OCBlog.net. He later tried to sell it to me for $15,000 or $20,000. Yeah. Right.

UPDATE (2:34 p.m.): I saw OC Registrar of Voter Neal Kelley at today's grand opening of the new OC Parks Department headquarters. I asked him if Hutchens has opened up a campaign committee, and to Neal's knowledge, she had not.