Carrying on in its long and fruitful tradition of ripping stories straight from the headlines, Law & Order: SVU is apparently planning an episode based on the real-life Arnold Schwarzenegger secret lovechild scandal that ended his marriage with Maria Shriver. more ›

Last week we learned that power couple Arnold Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver have decided to separate after a 25-year marriage, and while the split initially appeared to be relatively drama-free, today Arnie dropped a bomb, admitting that he had an affair and fathered a child with one of his household staffers. While the affair took place a decade ago, Shriver only recently found out about it, prompting the announcement of the couple's separation. more ›

Mayor Bloomberg was in Washington yesterday, wearing the hat of co-chairman of the Building America's Future coalition. Along with fellow co-chairs Governors Arnold Schwarzenegger and Ed Rendell, they discussed with President Obama infrastructure revitalization and how funds from the stimulus package will be used. more ›

Now that there seems to be a compelling 2008 presidential race, Mayor Bloomberg's White House prospects appear diminished. And associates of the billionaire suggest to the NY Times that post-mayoral life may not be enough for Bloomberg. more ›

Super Tuesday is supposed to be a decisive catalyst in the presidential campaigns. It may wind up raising more questions than ever, especially with Mayor Bloomberg (not officially) entertaining a run towards 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. more ›

It's Mike and Arnie, together again! The Time magazine co-cover pols, Mayor Michael Bloomberg and California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, made a Los Angeles appearance with Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell to announce the creation of a "nonpartisan organization that will advocate for more, and smarter, federal spending on infrastructure." The Mayor and maybe presidential candidate slammed the government, referenced the New Deal and more. Some of his statements:

In politics, winning elections and protecting a party majority is more important than solving problems and so short-term pork invariably wins over long-term investing and special interests win over the rest of us... more ›

Fred Thompson was never an actual Manhattan District Attorney, he just played one TV. He used the same medium to announce that he was running for President by pursuing the Republican nomination Wednesday night on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Unlike California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, who announced his gubernatorial candidacy by appearing on The Tonight Show in person, Thompson made his announcement via a taped message that Leno aired. Speculation about the possibility of Thompson's imminent announcement has been growing recently. more ›

Mayor Bloomberg made the most recent cover of Time Magazine with California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger as part of an article titled "Who Needs Washington?" It describes how both men have taken the lead on certain issues like the environment and education that the federal government is unwilling or unable to tackle. Time describes both Schwarzenegger and Bloomberg as self-made men who rose from middle class backgrounds to extreme wealth and socially liberal Republicanism. more ›

Some questions are being raised about a $10,000 donation that billionaire Donald Trump gave to California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to help pay off his campaign debts. more ›

When NJ Governor Jon Corzine was critically injured in a car accident two weeks ago, a commenter wrote, "Obviously, God wants Codey to be governor," referring to Richard Codey, the NJ Senate majority leader (pictured) who has served as acting governor under the three past NJ governors. And, apparently, so does Corzine himself: The NY Times has an article about how Corzine was often not in NJ before being injured.:

In the 450 days between his inauguration and his accident, Mr. Corzine notified Mr. Codey that he would be away for all or part of 111 days, and would sleep out of state on 77 nights... more ›

We have some exciting news to share with our readers - Jen Chung, co-founder, editor of Gothamist, and executive editor for all Gothamist sites, has won a Wired Rave Award! The Rave Awards look for people that are "innovators, instigators, and inventors" in their field, with Jen receiving the award for blogs (she's "The Town Crier"). Lest you think Wired hands the award out to anyone, Jen has some pretty good company. Some of the 2007 Rave Award winners include: Tim Kring, creator of Heroes (and Crossing Jordan!); J.K. Rowling; Alfonso Cuarón; fellow blogger, Arianna Huffington; and the Governator Arnold Schwarzenegger. more ›

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger muscled into town to promote the Golden state's environmental policies, and he made a strange metaphor in the process. amNew York reported that he compared "'tree-hugging' stigma of environmentalism to the reputation for weirdness that once beset bodybuilders": "The gym used to be thought of as a dungeon for weirdoes and fanatics, but that has changed. Now it's changing for environmentalists." The Sun says it was a joke, but that's pretty lame, though we bet we would have laughed hearing it from Arnold more ›

While in California discussing gang violence with sheriffs and Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, Rudy Giuliani answered some questions about his relationship with son Andrew. The former mayor's 21-year-old son made some remarks to the NY Times about being estranged from his father due to a rocky relationship with stepmother Judi Nathan. Today, Giuliani said:

"My wife Judith is a very loving and caring ... mother and stepmother. She has done everything she can. The responsibility is mine. I believe that these problems with blended families, you know, are challenges -- sometimes they are. The more privacy I can have for my family, the better we are going to be able to deal with all these difficulties."

If it's October and it's a midterm election year and it's your second (and final) mayoral term and you're very rich and may be considering higher office, what do you do? Well, if you're Mayor Bloomberg, you stump for other candidates! The NY Sun notes that Hizzoner has "intensified" his very helpful fund-raising, even appearing in TV commercials. Who would have thought three years ago that Bloomberg would be helping out Connecticut Representative Christopher Shays, given that Shays very publicly said he didn't want to go to Times Square because of terrorist threats. (If he had said he just wanted to avoid the insane crowds, that would have been acceptable, but no, he had to bring up the T-word and get into a tiff with Bloomberg!) more ›

also reasoned that while Schwarzenegger "hasn't had anything to do with the city, but he doesn't do anything against the city either." Au contraire, Mayor B: Arnold was in Hercules in New York! If that didn't give NYC a good (or bad) name, we don't know what will. more ›

Tonight is the keynote address by Democratic Governor Zell Miller and Dick Cheney accepting the Vice-Presidential nomination. Here's the schedule. And in a move to spite critics who noted that he would only be in town for barely a night, the President will be watching Uncle Dick and the crew from a fire station in Queens tonight; our heart goes out to all the commuters in Elmhurst. more ›

The Republican National Convention opened yesterday with two of its more liberal politicians, Rudy Giuliani and Senator John McCain, taking the stage. Senator McCain, whose dalliances with the other side have confused the more right-leaning conservatives, won the affection of delegates by "mauling" Michael Moore, who was at the convention under the auspices of writing for USA Today. On the Today Show Tim Russert called Moore the GOP's favorite pinata; Moore, for his part, seemed to revel in the attention. Related: Analysis of Day 1 from NY Times and Washington Post says it's all about terror and September 11. And then there's the Republican Party platform (PDF) that's driven by the social conservatives in the party. more ›

- Charlie LeDuff, describing Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, in "Budget Woes to the Wind as Schwarzenegger Takes to the Road" more ›

Senator Edward Kennedy wonders if his nephew-in-law, the new governor-elect of California, is really just a vision from a bad night of drinking. more ›

Slate asks various plastic surgeons if they think California's First Couple-Elect, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver, have had plastic surgery. Majority of expects thinks no work. "," says Imber. But they probably have gotten Botoxed and their teeth bleached. more ›

The New York Times calls Maria Shriver the "secret weapon" behind Arnold Schwarzenegger's gubernatorial success, saying Shriver was instrumental in keeping her husband on message as well as deflecting the sexual misconduct allegations. Sure, blame the wife. more ›

Well, even though it was great for punchlines and idle dinner time conversation, the reality that Arnold Schwarzenegger is in fact the next Governor of California makes us think it's the wrong message to be sending out there, to other countries, to the aliens spying on us: If you have Nazi associations (father, random comment, whatever), a fondness for groping women not your wife, multiple $100+ million grossing movies, no real political skills, and some serious white chompers, you can too can govern one of the most important states in the U.S. So, Gothamist has decided to secede from the United States - join us if you dare! Or at least demand California secede. more ›

Arnold Schwarzenegger breaks his first commercial and surprise surprise, he doesn't really say anything of substance - but he does use his finger accusingly (pointing at bad bad Gray Davis...bad!). The Times' Charlie LeDuff notices that Schwarzenegger is seen on a the walkway of a "Bel Air-style home," with bougainvillea crawling up the walls and a gas lamp flickering, and later in a wood-paneled study - signs of "solidity and prosperity." Arnold says, "I want to be the people's governor. I will work honestly, without fear or favor, to do what is right for all Californians." Come on, Arnold, give us what we want: We want you hunting the Predator or T-1000, or looking for your father with Danny DeVito. Stop the soft sell, man. We want blood or culture clash. more ›

In crazy political news, the effort to recall Gray Davis as Governor of California has been gaining unexpected momentum. Davis was re-elected in 2002, but may be on this November's ballot (he let the state budget deficit go to $38 billion). Possible candidates for governor? Dianne Feinstein for the Democrats, Arnold Schwarzenegger for the Republicans (he'll figure that all out after Terminator 3 opens; if his box office is hot, Gothamist thinks he'll do it). Oh, and there's Darrell Issa, the Republican Congressman behind the effort. (Issa's a congressman AND an car alarm entrepreneur!) Justin covered this a few weeks ago (clearly, Justin is ahead of the curve, and certainly ahead of Jen), revealing some religious origins of the recall. more ›