Two years out from the 2009 Boston mayoral vote, I take a look at whether there's any chance of someone other than Tom Menino winning that election -- and rank the 40 Bostonians with the best shot at it. My top five: 1) Michael Flaherty, 2) Ralph Martin, 3) John Tobin, 4) Chris Gabrieli, 5) Steve Lynch.

It's in this week's Phoenix, out tomorrow but online now:

Scott Bloch, head of the Office of Special Counsel (OSC), is back in the news. In May 2005 I told you about Bloch, in an article titled "Bush's House Homophobe." At that time, the White House had assigned an Inspector General to investigate complaints filed against Bloch. That investigation has yielded little to date, thanks to Bloch's stonewalling and obfuscating.

During October, Romney regularly spent more than $100,000 a week on ad buys at WMUR-TV, New Hampshire's only statewide commercial television station.

This month, Romney upped the ante yet again. His campaign is now spending more than $200,000 a week on WMUR: