Smart move by California Governor Gray Davis.

Apparently not taking any chances, he's cranking out judicial appointments.

Davis has appointed 15 judges since July 23, the day the secretary of state announced the recall question would go to voters....There are currently 48 more vacancies on the state's 1,600-member bench, a number that is not unusually high.

Davis will likely fill them all before the Oct. 7 recall election. Most outgoing Governors do the same thing. We're glad he's doing it as opposed to his successor, should there be one. But one thing we don't buy is his spokesperson's assertion this is just coincidence.

Diane Carmen in the Denver Post outlines why Arnold is unpalatable to many Republicans.

He's on the record as pro-choice, pro-gay rights and pro-gun control. He's supported environmental protection regulations. He almost single-handedly passed Proposition 49, an initiative that calls for $550 million in state funds for after-school child-care programs. He married a Kennedy.

And, if all that's not lefty enough, he even trashed the impeachment of Bill Clinton. "We spent one year wasting time because there was a human failure," he told George magazine in 1999. "I was ashamed to call myself a Republican during that period."

According to Carmen:

This is why the Schwarzenegger phenomenon is so disturbing for those who have staked their careers on their unwavering conservative credentials. Because if the Terminator is the future of the party, they unquestionably represent the past.

We hope she's right.

Maureen Dowd is not impressed with the quality of would-be presidential bloggers.

The most telling sign that the Internet is no longer the cool American frontier? Blogs, which sprang up to sass the establishment, have been overrun by the establishment.

In a lame attempt to be hip, pols are posting soggy, foggy, bloggy musings on the Internet. Inspired by Howard Dean's success in fund-raising and mobilizing on the Web, candidates are crowding into the blogosphere — spewing out canned meanderings in a genre invented by unstructured exhibitionists.

But, there is one blog she's impressed with:

Even former candidates are weighing in. Gary Hart, who began his blog in March, doesn't bother to read other digital diarists. "If you're James Joyce," he said slyly, "you don't read other authors."

Now there's a man with a future in blogging.

We won't be seeing re-runs of Arnold Schwarznegger movies on network televsion for a while. Or those with Gary Coleman. But you might see re-runs of Saturday Night Live with Father Guido Sarducci, played by Don Novella.

This is all the result of equal access time rules for television networks. They apply to the major networks, but not to cable. So, if NBC were to re-run the Terminator, Arianna and every other candidate would be entitled to equal time.

The ban will also apply to stations in neighboring states that reach a lot of California voters.

The provision makes exceptions for appearances on news programs, interview programs such as "Meet the Press," documentaries or spot coverage of news events.

The FCC has ruled in the past that shows such as "Entertainment Tonight" and "Access Hollywood," which are likely to be devoting a lot of air time to the celebrity aspect of the election, qualify as news shows.

This is serious stuff.

In 1972, NBC aired a Doris Day movie in which comedian Pat Paulsen appeared for 30 seconds. Because Paulsen had launched a satiric presidential campaign, he was ruled a legitimate candidate. Two Republican candidates requested and got 30 seconds in the same time slot as a result.

The Boston Globe says Clark is planning a Democratic nomination bid. Look for an announcement around Labor Day. (via No More Mister Nice Blog)

Sen. Joseph Biden (D-DE) announced he will not run for President. Smart move, he could not have won and he's got it pretty good where he is.

This is great news. Billionaire philanthropist George Soros is teaming with liberal groups and individuals to form a $75 million fund to get out the vote in 2004 and defeat Bush.

Labor, environmental and women's organizations, with strong backing from international financier George Soros, have joined forces behind a new political group that plans to spend an unprecedented $75 million to mobilize voters to defeat President Bush in 2004.

The organization, Americans Coming Together (ACT), will conduct "a massive get-out-the-vote operation that we think will defeat George W. Bush in 2004," said Ellen Malcolm, the president of EMILY's List, who will become ACT's president.

....The formation of ACT reflects growing fears in liberal and Democratic circles that with Republicans likely to retain control of Congress, a second Bush term could mean passage of legislation, adoption of regulations and the appointment of judges that together could devastate left-supported policies and institutions.

The group has received $30 million in committed funds to date, including $10 million from Soros. [link via Cursor.]

Arnold Schwarzenegger earned $50 million in the past two years.

Schwarzenegger's tax returns, made public at a news conference, showed he earned $31 million in 2000 and paid more than $10 million in state and federal taxes. Income dipped slightly in 2001 to $26.1 million, with $9.3 million paid in taxes.

He also made charitable donations of close to $5 million in those two years, including $1.1 million to Proposition 49, the voter initiative that he successfully backed which increases funding for after school programs.

Why did he release list such a detailed list of his business holdings when he wasn't required to disclose them? Probably because his advisors want him cast as a successful businessman who could turn around California's economic woes, instead of as an actor.

Arnold is leading in the polls.

The other day we touted Arnold's progressive stand on social justice issues. But, today we learned something we don't like: He voted for Proposition 187--the resolution that denies health and other social services to illegal mmigrants.

The GOP-backed Proposition 187 (search) to deny health care and public education to illegal immigrants was passed by a wide margin, although it was eventually ruled unconstitutional. It remains a contentious issue and a litmus test for some voters, particularly Hispanics (search), to gauge whether a candidate is immigrant-friendly.

Gray Davis voted against Proposition 187.

The Washington Post reports that Democrats are unlikely to win back the House in 2004:

Analysts who have been following the early battle for control of the 435-member House say a relative lack of public anger to fuel anti-incumbent voting and a strong GOP fundraising effort underway will be difficult for Democrats to surmount.

The biggest factor, however, is one that has thwarted Democratic hopes before and, if anything, is growing worse: Congressional redistricting has produced a remarkably small number of competitive districts nationwide. As a result, Democrats must win a huge percentage of the toss-up races to regain the House majority they lost a decade ago.

The trend continues. The latest Pew Poll shows that Bush's approval rating continues to decline:

Bush's overall rating dropped from 58 percent last month to 53 percent while 37 percent of respondents said they disapproved of the way he was handling his job, according to a Pew Research Center survey of 2,528 Americans.

The disapproval percentage is the highest negative rating the president has received since taking office nearly three years ago, the poll organizers said.

A solid majority, 57% of those polled, say that the economy is the President's most pressing concern, not terrorism.

Now that Arnold is in the race for California Governor, it's only natural that people want to know his positions on issues. The Washington Post says they are a mystery--we're not so sure. He's pro-choice. He's described as becoming less of a traditional Republican since marrying Maria Shriver. He said the GOP drive to impeach Clinton made him ashamed to be a Republican.

Last year, he led the campaign in California for Proposition 49, which calls for about a half-billion dollars in state spending on after-school programs.

....After riots here a decade ago, Schwarzenegger began pumping millions of dollars into a nonprofit organization called Inner-City Games, which offers recreational opportunities to disadvantaged youth. With his financial backing, the program has spread to 15 cities across the country.

Schwarzenegger also has been a major financial contributor to the Simon Wiesenthal Center, a prominent Jewish institution in Los Angeles.

Arnold is sounding pretty good to us. This isn't an endorsement, and we still oppose the recall. But we do like what we see so far.

Update: Here's a sobering thought though.... Bush campaigning for Arnold? That would definitely cost Arnold our good wishes.

Atrios gets it right. The first thing to do is reject the recall. If the recall succeeds, the vote should go to Lt. Governor Cruz Bustamente who has announced he will join the race.

On Arnold, we like him. We give him an "A" for his delivery and demeanor during his press conference yesterday (we didn't see the Jay Leno show so we can't comment on that.) We also like his wife, Maria Shriver, and her politics. So we won't be upset if Arnold wins. But that doesn't change the basics, which is the recall is wrong, California's recall rules need to be changed--and Gray Davis should be retained as California Governor until the next election.

Update: Brian Fleming has withdrawn from the race.