Buggy-Boo: John Street, Philadelphia's mayor, is being bugged (but is not the "target of the investigation") by the FBI over giving contracts to his buddies? I sure hope the Oval Office is getting bugged. (If you haven't been following the story, see http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/local/7014707.htm for more background.)

The Arnold Factor: One of our faithful readers asked me today what I thought about the Arnold election. Well, I watched the debates. I followed the news. And, with 138(?) candidates, there was someone in the race that represented almost everybody's opinions and point of view. The big fear early in the race was that the vote would be so splintered, someone would end up winning with 10% (or less) of the vote. Obviously, they didn't need to worry.

Which brings us to Arnold. Why did he win so decisively? He didn't say anything that blew your mind at the debate. He didn't have much in the way of well-articulated views or a killer plan to put California back on its feet. Hell, he doesn't even play particularly cuddly characters in his movies!

But, he's not a "career politician", which seems to be the angle to go for, if you want to win elections these days. There's the novelty value of voting for the Terminator. There could be that overwhelming pragmatism (read: herd mentality) that makes people more likely to vote for people they think have a good shot at winning (which is funny, considering their aversion to people who have won too many elections in the past.)

I don't know. It's not that I think Arnold would be a bad governor, necessarily, but I'm not sure what would have led 60% of the Californian voting population to decide he would be a good one. I guess, at the very least, he can use that star power to tilt negotiations in his favor.

P.S. If Mary actually writes that letter tonight, I will send her a surprise in the mail. So don't be looking for me a the post office tomorrow!