"October Surprise" Fatigue Sets In

Yes, I know it's (finally) November, but if you say "October Surprise" to anyone, the listener knows exactly what you mean; that's how embedded in the political culture this pattern is now. The risk when you pull a stunt like this is that it always begs the question "Why couldn't this have happened sooner, like anytime in the last [2, 4, 6 years]?"

This was meant to be an equal-opportunity OS, helping build phony crimefighting credentials for Republican candidates at the state level (sorry, Lt. Gov. Healy, too little, too late) as well as provide preening opportunities for the feds, and by inference, the White House. Funny, though, how this only made the front page in the Globe.

Only one problem: Don't any of these people think they also should be governing during the other 23 months of the year? Is this their idea of shrinking government -- start with the calendar?

Unfortunately for conservatives, this story is getting nothing nationally compared to this.

To be clear, nobody is saying that rounding up criminals is just a stunt, OK? Allowing criminals to roam the streets until five days before an election is a stunt.

During a press conference announcing the arrests yesterday, First Assistant US Attorney Michael K. Loucks said, "Protecting the most innocent among us is more important than anything else we do."

Except hold on to power at all costs, apparently.