Kos has a rundown of the polling for the California governor's race. Ahnold Ziffel has a comfortable lead; as is so typical throughout the country, there is a decided preference at the state level for the minority party to have control of the governor's mansion. In a state that is effectively a one-party contest in Presidential elections, the dominant power becomes corrupt and atrophied, and the Democratic majority in the state legislature is as entrenched as any Soviet-era Politburo. California's Democrats aren't that much different, in that regard, than Republicans in Kansas or Wyoming.

And besides, Schwarzenegger learned a hard lesson last year. He tried to push the state to the right via the initiative, and discovered, to his horror, that California is a progressive state. So he's using what appears to be a winning formula this year, that of an anti-tax liberal, and he's breezing ahead of his colorless opponent. Since 2010 is the important election in this state, and Mayor Villaraigosa, who's wielding the Golden Silence in this election, is the heir apparent (Ahnold is termlimited after this election), as well as the Republicans having such a thin bench, Democrats are just not going to be that vexed with the likely result. There are bigger fish to fry.