As you may know, the national sport of Afghanistan is buzkashi, an ancient Ghengis Khan-era competition in which two teams of horsemen vie against each other to grab hold of and toss around the decapitated body of an eviscerated old goat.
Which brings us to the race now taking shape in California’s 18th congressional district, Condit country.
Against all odds, the old goat himself has decided to throw his hat in the ring (tried to think of another metaphor, but couldn’t) for the Democratic nomination in the 18th district and try to win another term as congressman. Rep. Gary A. Condit told the LA Times that deciding to run again was a hard decision but that he didn’t “know that [he] could be comfortable letting the national press, the people in Washington, D.C., the pundits and the talking heads determine my decision.”
Condit’s main competitor for the Dem nomination is Dennis Cardoza, a one-time Condit staffer and protege. The main Republican in the race is state Sen. Dick Monteith. To get the horsemen really riled up Condit dared these would-be opponents to raise the Chandra Levy scandal in the campaign.
Meanwhile, Condit has apparently still not turned over the materials subpoenaed by federal investigators on November 13th, seemingly because of some separation of powers issues he believes are involved. So says his lawyer.
P.S. Since we last checked in on Rep. Condit he has allowed his one-time lawyer Abbe Lowell to leave the case, presumably to make a start at regaining his dignity. Replacing Lowell is none other that Larry King-Condit- gabmeister Mark Geragos. Actually, according to my sources, Geragos was already informally advising Condit last summer when he was still part of the Larry King panel commenting about Condit.
