Riordan running for Guv and launching paper?

Erstwhile L.A. Examiner publisher and editor Richard Riordan is making arrangements to run again for governor if the Gray Davis recall makes the ballot, says Robert Novak, the conservative Chicago Sun-Times columnist. In a column that concludes the recall's prospects are good, Novak sizes up the potential Republican candidates and says of Riordan:

"All may be dwarfed by a liberal Republican: former Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan. After losing to conservative Simon in the 2002 primary, Riordan has asked for White House help in clearing out the rest of the Republicans. Since that is patently impossible, he may run as an independent."

Riordan has already told people -- including a class at USC -- that he will be the ultimate editor of the Examiner. A reader of L.A. Observed e-mails: "how does Richard Riordan start a newspaper AND run for governor? I wonder if that's why he put off launch. "