Today the San Jose Mercury News prints a roundup of three California governor recall stories: Columnist Arianna Huffington to enter race; State Sen. Tom McClintock files final papers; and Brian Flemming is running to resign.

Guess which story they chose to top the roundup? That's right:

Writer seeks win in order to lose

Now here's a catchy campaign slogan: "If elected, I will resign."

Brian Flemming, a 37-year-old Democrat from Los Angeles, wants to be governor for one reason: so he can quit, which would leave the lieutenant governor in charge. Or, in Flemming's words, "To get Cruz Bustamante out of the pickle he is in."

The way Flemming sees it, Californians decided in November that Bustamante should take over if Davis leaves office. But since Bustamante isn't on the ballot, Flemming is doing it for him.

Flemming, who considers himself a "widely respected playwright," already has a Web site, www.flemmingforgovernor.org.

"I'm getting a huge response, more e-mails than I can handle," he said.

Along with the recent mention by Atrios and an interview in Film Threat (not to mention bloggers Nora Murphy, Nicole, Nurse Ratched, ex-lion tamer, John P. Hoke, Simple Bitch, Rubber Hose, RunawaySquirrels and Clockmonkey), this has given Flemming for Governor quite a boost.

(UPDATE 8-6-03: Just did an interview with NPR's "All Things Considered." It's supposed to air on tonight's program.)