It’s been lost in all the coverage of the presidential campaign, but Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s approval rating in California has plummeted again. In the most recent poll, taken in September, only 38 percent of Californians had a favorable opinion of the governor.

This puts Schwarzenegger’s unpopularity within range of the 35 percent approval rating he received in 2006. He won reelection the next year by swinging wildly to the left, and by filling his campaign with Democrats — as well as at least one Bush-Rove operative, Steve Schmidt, who has become infamous this year as the mastermind of John McCain’s campaign.

Speaking of which, it appears that Schwarzenegger’s movie star appeal outside California has lost its luster, too. On Thursday, he appeared with John McCain at a campaign event in Columbus, Ohio, and even with the combined billing of California’s movie star governor and the putative next leader of the free world, the venue was only filled to half its capacity:

[The appearance of McCain and Schwarzenegger] at Nationwide Arena drew what was a large crowd for McCain, but about half the arena was empty. Four years ago when Schwarzenegger campaigned in the same venue for Bush, the arena was packed to capacity with about 20,000 people.

One trait Schwarzenegger shares with George Bush is a sense of humor that relies heavily on locker-room towel-snapping:

Schwarzenegger long has sponsored an annual bodybuilding competition in Columbus, and he joked that he hoped to invite Obama next time because “he needs to do something with those skinny legs.”

“We’re going to make him do some squats, and then we’re going to give him some biceps curls to beef up those scrawny little arms. But if you only could do something about putting some meat on his ideas,” Schwarzenegger said.

Har-har.

McCain and Schwarzenegger won’t be campaigning together in California, because the last three statewide polls show McCain losing to Barack Obama by jaw-droppingly large margins — 27, 23 and 22 percentage points.

There has been some good news lately for Schwarzenegger in California, however. The prison guard’s union — reputedly the most powerful union in the state, which, if so, is an ugly sign of the times — has dropped its effort to recall the governor next year. Last month, the language for the recall petition they submitted was rejected by the secretary of state, a Democrat, because of technical issues. The union decided not to refile the petition language, but rather to let Schwarzenegger twist in the wind until he is term-limited out of office in 2010.

On Wednesday, we reported that John McCain was behind Barack Obama in California by 27 points in the Rasmussen poll and by 23 points in the PPIC survey. On Thursday, the highly respected Field Poll added confirmation that there will be a landslide for Obama in the Golden State on Tuesday:

THE POLL: The Field Poll on the presidential race among likely votes in California (55 electoral votes).

THE NUMBERS: Barack Obama, 55 percent; John McCain, 33 percent.

Of INTEREST: If the poll accurately reflects the outcome on Election Day, it would be the most lopsided presidential election in California since Democrat Franklin Roosevelt beat Republican Alfred Landon by 35 percentage points in 1936.

Of course, the only thing that could stop the landslide now is if Democrats, particularly younger ones, assume their vote won’t matter and “flake” on Election Day.

On the other hand, opposition to Proposition 8, the ballot measure that would end gay marriage, would benefit if Republicans are so dispirited that they decide not to vote. Polls show the measure losing by a close margin of 49 percent to 44 percent, with 7 percent undecided.

I’m crying foul, whether Obama’s team is or not, over Saturday Night Live’s just announced guest this week which, if anyone’s counting, happens to be the Saturday before Election Day. Yes, the winner for the spot is…John McCain.

It’s long been known that SNL producer Lorne Michaels is a fan of McCain’s, having maxed out campaign donations limits to him in both the primary and general cycles, not to mention contributions to his various PACs, like Straight Talk America, since 2000. And yes, Michaels has played both sides of the fence with recent donations to Obama as well.

But after last week’s dismal portrayals of Barack and Michelle Obama by Fred Armisen and Maya Rudolph, one has to wonder where Michaels’ true loyalties lie. SNL provides the Monday morning water cooler conversation for millions, whether they watch the show or not. And the day after Monday is…oh yeah, Election Day!

I have no objection to SNL’s cast lampooning the candidates, or using the campaigns for fodder during Weekend Update. I thought the earlier appearances by McCain and Palin were funny, as was Hillary Clinton. But to turn the show over to McCain on the Saturday before the election strikes me as unsportsmanlike. I doubt it would do any good, but if you’d like to register a protest, here’s the place to post a message.

Geez, with huge spreads like these, why would California Republicans even bother to vote? (Kidding!)

According to Rasmussen Reports from Oct. 25, Obama leads McCain 61 percent to 34 percent, giving him a 27-point lead. This poll shows only 5 percent undecided.

According to a Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) survey from Oct. 12-19, Obama has 56 percent of the vote, while McCain has 33 percent, leaving a 23-point gap. PPIC found 11 percent were undecided.

Even if all the undecideds were to break for McCain, as the McCain camp is predicting, Obama would still win California by double-digits.

NBC’s Tim Russert explains the problem on election night, 2000

Florida is trying, we really are. Even Republican Gov. Charlie Crist seems determined not to be blamed for any problems with say, national elections, this year. The governor has bowed to extreme demand and issued an edict that early voting sites will stay open longer.

Unfortunately, he didn’t order any extra sites opened.

The Republican governor’s executive order extends hours at all 267 early voting sites for four hours each weekday, from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. through Friday, and for four hours on the weekend, for a total of 12 hours over Saturday and/or Sunday…

Crist: “Watching news accounts of the long lines gave me concern for the health, safety and welfare of my fellow Floridians”

“Frankly, watching news accounts of the long lines gave me concern for the health, safety and welfare of my fellow Floridians, particularly, perhaps, senior citizens,” Crist said.

County supervisors of elections express mixed feelings about the order. Those who have their acts together, like mine, welcome the opportunity to make election day that much smoother. Those who were a mess to begin with regard increased enfranchisement as a big ol’ pain in the butt.

As of close of voting sites yesterday, one-fifth of Florida’s registered voters had already cast a ballot.

That’s an amazing figure, since we are talking about the percentage of all who could potentially vote, not of all who will. If turn-out is in line with historic levels, and if early voting continues at this pace, we should be halfway done by election day. In 2000, 70 percent of registered voters showed up; in 2004, 74 percent did.

Democrats have an advantage among voters who can walk and are physically present.

The state Democratic Party said Tuesday that 53 percent of the nearly 1.2 million early voters were Democrats compared to 30 percent who were Republicans.

Republicans claim an edge among those who cast absentee ballots, usually either because they are in nursing homes or out of the country.

Of the 1.1 million absentee ballots returned so far, Republicans have a 49 percent to 35 percent advantage over Democrats, the party said.

Splitting the difference gives Democrats a 44—39 percent lead so far.

As I noted earlier, if John McCain and Sarah Palin win next Tuesday, it will be because they have convinced uninformed, undecided voters that Barack Obama is a socialist.

In reality, Palin is the governor of the most socialistic state in the Union. Earlier this year, she freely admitted that Alaskans own the state’s energy reserves “collectively”:

For her part, Sarah Palin, who has lately taken to calling Obama “Barack the Wealth Spreader,” seems to be something of a suspect character herself. She is, at the very least, a fellow-traveller of what might be called socialism with an Alaskan face.

The state that she governs has no income or sales tax. Instead, it imposes huge levies on the oil companies that lease its oil fields. The proceeds finance the government’s activities and enable it to issue a four-figure annual check to every man, woman, and child in the state.

One of the reasons Palin has been a popular governor is that she added an extra twelve hundred dollars to this year’s check, bringing the per-person total to $3,269. A few weeks before she was nominated for Vice-President, she told a visiting journalist — Philip Gourevitch, of this magazine — that “we’re set up, unlike other states in the union, where it’s collectively Alaskans own the resources. So we share in the wealth when the development of these resources occurs.”

Here’s the exact quote:

And Alaska — we’re set up, unlike other states in the union, where it’s collectively Alaskans own the resources. So we share in the wealth when the development of these resources occurs.