Peter: Davis is a wholly-owned subsidiary of organized labor, so it is not surprising that the AFL-CIO would come to his aid with as much as $10 million. He has been worth much more than that to labor. Of course, one shouldn’t put it past Davis to have threatened labor; if they don’t help and he survives, he can punish them, and he would.

In talking with Republican operatives I know in Sacramento and elsewhere, priority Number 1 if there is a 24-hour transition to a new governor is to lock up the governor’s office at midnight, or as soon as the vote is certified, so that the files can’t be purged or shredded. There is likely enough dirt to be found to indict Davis. He is not known as the nation’s first coin-operated governor for nothing.