Over at Needlenose, Green Boy expresses fear that the postponement of the California recall might actually be good for the Republicans.

I fear that, too.

As GB points out, this setback for the Davis haters could work as a get-out-the-vote tool, a spur to GOP (Schwarzenegger) voters. Also, it's possible that McClintock really would have stuck it out until October 7, splitting the GOP vote, while a postponement makes his departure (presumably under intense pressure) more likely.

What bugs me about this election is the fact that it's not the bizarre, aberrant event everyone says it is -- it's just another damn election, and, moreover, one that fits a right-wing script: GOP hero with ordinary folks' values vs. sneaky, geeky liberals/Democrats.

Now, to arrive at this view of the election, you have to accept as perfectly OK the GOP gaming of the system (Issa trying to buy the governorship by bankrolling signature-collectors in the petition drive) while being outraged at the ACLU's push to win a postponement. But that's exactly how a lot of people feel, many of them the commentators who tell us all what to think. You have to see Gray Davis as part of the elite and Arnold as just a regular guy. But a lot of people really do see the two of them that way. You have to blow a few details of Cruz Bustamante's life out of proportion and conclude that he's a bigot while ignoring the fact that, in terms of respect for women, Schwarzenegger makes Howard Stern look like Alan Alda. But that way of thinking is common, too.

Once again, alas, we've got a charisma deficiency on the Dem side and a full-of-himself -- and thus well-regarded -- Republican. Arnold loves himself, just as George W. loves himself, so the press loves him and the press acts as if all the people love him.

When a gazillion people signed up to run, I thought this might be different. I thought there'd be votes flying every which way and ten or fifteen candidates surfacing in the polls as possible contenders. But we're simple people: an 800-pound gorilla got into the race and became the only person everyone (or at least everyone Anglo) talks about, and now we can grasp the election without thinking very hard and making our heads hurt.

Yeah, I know this is awfully disjointed. Well, I still suspect Arnold will win it. (What, do you think the economy will rebound by March and Davis will survive? With that idiot still in the White House?) I hope I'm wrong.