Did you know that for only $3,500.00, you too can run for California Governor? Atrios suggests all his California readers sign up. And here's a website that tells you exactly how to do it. Our favorite candidate so far? Doug Fleming (again, via Atrios.) Atrios likes his platform, we like his motto. Go read.

And blogger, author, performer Neal Pollack wants to throw his hat in the ring:

Posting hours will be irregular for the rest of the week. I'll be in California, trying to round up 65 signatures and $3500 so I can run for governor. I figure my position as The Greatest Living American Writer, coupled with the fact that I've served as governor of both New York and Rhode Island, might help me to carry the day. If you wish to Donate the campaign, plese click on the button to your right. All leftover monies will go toward funding The Neal Pollack Invasion's fall tour. Give until it hurts, my friends. I'm begging you.

Don't miss Neal's piece on the Episcopalian Church in the same post.

Naturally, we're in favor of this. And we point out that the young Dean was not given preferential treatment. Almost all first-time non-violent juvenile offenders are offered diversion, so they won't have a permanent record from a single mistake.

The 17-year-old son of Democratic presidential candidate Howard Dean agreed Tuesday to participate in a court diversion program for allegedly being the getaway driver while four friends tried to steal beer from a country club.

Paul Dean appeared at Vermont District Court with his father and mother, Dr. Judith Dean, and met with a court official. ...The program allows first-time and low-risk offenders to resolve their charges without appearing before a judge. In a few weeks, the younger Dean is to appear before a community board that will determine his punishment, which could include community service, writing a letter of apology or making restitution.

Howard Dean on the dispo:

''I think this is a good outcome for Paul and for his friends, and that's what the program is designed for."

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We are as yet uncommitted in the Democratic race for the Presidential nomination. But if we were advising Howard Dean's campaign, we'd tell them to hire Toby Sackton, blogger at Let It Begin Here. Toby's imagery is unbeatable. He'd make a great speech writer. Here's a sample of his latest post championing Dean and arguing that Dean will make it to the top:

Kerry represents a boil on Bush’s left shoulder. Dean represents a full-fledged tackle that will cut him off at the knees.

The other democrats are mostly media midgets compared to Bush, who is carefully staged so as to appear like the wizard of Oz, even though it is a little frightened man behind the curtain. Most of the democrats are afraid to pull back the curtain, afraid that the big bad Bush will get them, that his brown shirts will attack them. Dean, like Dorothy, is fearless today, not 30 years ago in Vietnam. That is why he is the Democrat with the best chance to win.

We're not agreeing with Toby--or disagreeing. The only candidate we have a disagreement with so far is Lieberman, who blasted left-leaning candidates Tuesday. We think by the time the election comes around, the voters will want a clear, well-delineated alternative to Bush, not a Bush-Lite like Lieberman or some of the others, and that means one willing to take a left turn.

Update: This Washington Times commentary by Tod Lindberg notes that public opinion is liberalizing towards the death penalty and social justice issues. The candidates should follow suit.

The Washington Post reports that Secretary of State Colin Powell and his deputy Richard Armitage will not stay on for a second term with Bush. They intend to step down in January, 2005.

Since Colin Powell enjoys much popularity across party lines, we think this could hurt Bush in the 2004 election. It's not like Powell is quitting now, so the country won't have much, if any, time to adjust to his replacement before the election.

We also wonder why this is coming out now. Won't foreign governments begin viewing Powell as a "lame duck" of sorts, decreasing their incentive to pay much attention to him?

The Post says National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice and Deputy Defense Secretary Paul D. Wolfowitz are the leading candidates to replace Powell, but Rice may not want the job because of the bureaucracy involved.

We'll be curious to see what the professional politicos make of this.

The Monday New York Times has an important article evidencing growing disdain for Bush in "democratic strongholds":

There is a powerful disdain for the Bush administration, stoked by the aftermath of the war in Iraq and the continuing lag in the economy. There is also a conviction that President Bush is eminently beatable and a hunger to hear their party's leaders and candidates make the case against him — straight up, from the heart rather than the polling data.

It is not simply a lurch to the left, many Democrats say; it could, in fact, lead caucus voters to more centrist candidates, if they seem most likely to defeat Mr. Bush in the general election.

It seems the message is spreading--forget whether you're right or left and the fact that no particular candidate speaks to you on every issue --if he or she can beat Bush, that's what counts.

Geoff Garin, a pollster who is working for Senator Bob Graham of Florida, who is seeking the Democratic nomination, said the Democratic anger toward Mr. Bush was "as strong as anything I've experienced in 25 years now of polling," and perhaps comes closest to the way many Democrats felt about President Richard M. Nixon.

Howard Dean makes the cover of both Time and Newsweek, and Dave Cullen of Conclusive Evidence puts all the articles from both magazines in one place, with summaries and analyis.

Grand Theft America on Katherine Harris and the scrubbing of 58,000 voters from the Florida voter registration lists....it's mesmerizing in video with great audio. The gist of the charge is that Harris first scrubbed the names of felons, then people with the same names as felons, and the final list was 85% incorrect. Too bad she's already been elected to Congress. [thanks to Snowdog for the link] .

E.J. Dionee in the Boston Globe says it's too early to count out Gephardt and Edwards.

It's semi-official and an official statement will be released later today. Arnold Schwarzenegger will not run for Governor of California if Gray Davis is recalled.

Front page article in the Denver Post on the fraud potential of electronic voting machines.

"What we know is that the machines can't be trusted. It's an unlocked bank vault ..., a disaster waiting to happen," said David Dill, a Stanford University computer science professor who has prompted more than 110 fellow scientists to sign a petition calling for more accountability in voting technology.

Read Rob Kall of Op-Ed News on The Techno Voting Nightmare. In addition to his commentary, Rob points us to the definitive site on the topic: Blackbox Voting

Despite rumors to the contrary this past week, Jack Kemp says he will not be candidate for Governor in California if the recall election succeeds. He says he is too old, and while it might have been nice at another point in his life, it would not be right now.