Empty stat of the day *

Some Republicans are crowing that George W. Bush racked up the most popular votes of any president in history. It's true, but misleading: John Kerry also got more votes than any previously elected president. Huge turnout will do that. The stat I'm most impressed with today is the Drudge Report's claim of 36.6 million hits in the last 24 hours, most in the site's history.

Dan Weintraub suggests that Gov. Schwarzenegger should take some credit for pushing Bush over the top in crucial Ohio, where the governor campaigned. Here at home, Schwarzenegger's will on the propositions pretty much carried, but his candidates for the legislature lost in contested races. California's voter turnout is all over the map, ranging from 47.9% in Imperial county on the border to 86.3% in tiny Alpine county upstate. The statewide average is 61.1%, which Los Angeles beat by a comfortable margin but that Orange, Ventura, San Bernardino and Riverside all fell below.

* Added: Schwarzenegger's impact is the subject of tonight's "Which Way, L.A.?" with Warren Olney on KCRW (7 p.m., 89.9 FM)