While the rest of the nation searches for signs as to the size of the Democratic wave on Tuesday, Republicans are doing relatively well in statewide elections in California. Schwarzenegger has a commanding lead in the race for governor, Poizner is coasting over Bustamante in the battle to be Insurance Commissioner, and the lieutenant governor's race, between current Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi and perennial statewide candidate Tom McClintock, is statistically even, according to the latest Field Poll. Democrats, however, are winning the other races by gaps exceeding the margins of error, and DiFi is set to win another lopsided election for U.S. Senate.

Remember Mahir? He's still around, talking about making a movie about his life, and suing Borat Sagdiyev for ripping off his character. For example, about the distinctive mustache:

I start first grow mustache, 10 or 15 year ago. Sometimes, I been no mustache. I'm male and mustache shows a male mature.

[link via Emmanuelle Richard]

UPDATE: Or maybe Mahir ripped off Borat...the controversy deepens.

A website dedicated to derailing the political career of former NFL bust Heath Shuler gets an interview with...Heath Shuler. [link via Deadspin]

A detailed breakdown of the battle for Congress, from Larry Sabato, here. [link via AmericaBlog]

Angelides has now moved past Lamont in the all-important battle for most embarassing performance by a Democrat in what is likely a very Blue Year. He now trails by 16 in the Field Poll, which has an almost uncanny certitude in picking California elections, while Lamont has pulled to within twelve in the Quinnipiac Poll, up from seventeen just last week. Most telling numbers: Angelides and Schwarzenegger are essentially tied in the Bay Area and among Latino voters, who are breaking heavily to Democrats in other races, and Schesinger's performance in the debates has not made an impact in the polls, as Republicans continue to back Lieberman.

Whatever marginal effect the Kerry crack about Bush, lousy study habits and military service might have on the election next week, the one thing I think you can safely assume is that his 2008 prospects are now dead. He had already developed a well-deserved rep for being someone who doesn't think before he speaks (ie., "I voted for it before I voted against it"), and to a Democratic electorate that desperately wants to win next time, the fear that our prospects will be at the mercy of the next time the junior Senator from Massachusetts wants to "crack a joke" will be too much. He had his chance, and considering the inherent advantages the GOP had in the last election, he didn't do that badly, but after today, he stinks of defeat.

And it's not exactly unprecedented, as this column about a former GOP governor with a propensity for making bizarre, off-the-cuff statements attests. Just as no one seriously thinks that John Kerry believes that all American soldiers are morons, no one believed in 1967 that George Romney was "brainwashed" into supporting the Johnson Administration's policies in Vietnam. In the end, it didn't matter.

Cravenness, thy name is Halperin....

"Lieberman Is a Broken Man": Three completely over-the-top, mouth-breathing posts on the "imminent demise" of St. Joe, here, here, and here. Why this race continues to draw so much blogospheric (oops, sorry, I meant to say "netroots") attention, as opposed to, say, the closer race in Arizona (you know, the one where the Democratic nominee might actually win) escapes me. I would vote for Lamont in a heartbeat, but the biggest reason he's losing isn't that the national party "stabbed him in the back," but that he's the liberal version of Michael Huffington.

Wake me in April: The NBA season starts tonight.

Instapundit approvingly links to a blog accusing John Kerry of treason...believe it or not, he's a law professor, albeit of an SEC school. But if that sort of partisan negativity isn't your cup of tea, meet Kevin Wiskus, formerly a Republican state legislative candidate in Iowa, who left the party after it sponsored what he thought was a sleazy negative ad against his opponent. He's now running as an independent.