Check out this hillareous piece in the National Review arguing the California governor's race is Simon's to lose. Not too shocking, the author was a campaign staffer in Simon's primary campaign, and this piece is just the latest in a long string of fantasy pieces by a magazine desperate for GOP victory in the union's largest state. (Witness this now-famous William F. Buckley piece comparing Simon to Reagan.)

Simon backers are loathe to admit this, but Simon never won the GOP primary -- Gray Davis did. Had Riordian won, Davis would be on the ropes. But a vicious anti-Riordian ad campaign launched by the Davis campaign swung the primary Simon's way. And Simon will now have the unenviable distinction of getting slaughtered by an unpopular, sleazy governor.

Incidentally, it looks like the Florida GOP is borrowing page from Davis' playbook, running anti-McBride ads to improve Reno's chances. Kind of betrays who Jeb fears most, huh?