I just saw Rachel Maddow doing a full segment about James O'Keefe -- the guy behind the ACORN videotaping, who was arrested earlier this week -- and I have decided that, as much as I don't want to talk about James O'Keefe, I am going to talk about James O'Keefe in order to explain why people like Maddow (and Olbermann, and Schuster, and liberal bloggers, etc.

There's an interesting primary coming up next week, for those who share my fascination with the declining number of elected women Republicans. As I have written before, this year will be critical in whether that trend reverses or solidifies. That's because a lot of new Republicans will be elected this year (regardless of whether it's a 'wave' election cycle or not -- although obviously more if it is), providing a brief window to get some women into office.

In this week's issue of the Boston Phoenix -- in print tomorrow, online now -- I look at the emboldened Massachsetts Republican Party in the wake of Scott Brown's stunning Senate victory.

In the heady aftermath of victory, state Republicans are suddenly optimistic that 2010 might be another 1990. That optimism is helping push potentially strong candidates toward running, which in turn increases the chances of gains in November.

A couple of updates to my most recent rankings of the GOP's top contenders for the 2012 Presidential nomination:

--Mike Pence (#2) has declined to run for Senate against Evan Bayh, which to me suggests that the whole thing was a ploy to get more public attention among conservatives for his 2012 Presidential ambitions.

The Boston City Council's general irrelevance and futility -- and the mayor's unilateral power -- was a topic of much discussion during last year's city elections. The solid re-election of Tom Menino was, to some degree at least, a vote to maintain that balance, but the issue clearly resonated.

Council president Mike Ross announced committee assignments today, and there is some glimmer that he may be trying to push the council toward a slightly more equitable balance with the executive branch.

I have a habit of picking on Joe Tecce's Restaurant as the emblematic site of political fundraisers and dinner meetings. But is it really number one among pols? With the new campaign-finance reports in, we can find out -- or at least, we can see where the campaign committees and PACs spent the most money in 2009.

A quick search shows a whopping $95,968 paid to Joe Tecce's last year from committees that file with OCPF.

"Mark" asks:

Is Joe Malone serious about running for Congress and does he have a prayer?

In a similar vein, "Southshore Pragmatist" asks via email:

Are Republicans really dumb enough to try to capitalize on Brown's momentum by nominating a guy for Congress (Joe Malone) that essentially went into political exile for 10 years because four of his hand-picked staffers ransacked the Treasury of $9 million?

"Mike D." asks:

Have you been able to analyze Tuesday’s election returns for Boston? If so, is there anything worth noting (e.g., potential vulnerable candidates heading into this fall's elections)?

I have only taken a limited look at the breakdown to this point, so this is a limited analysis, but I don't see a lot of evidence that there are areas with a surprisingly large Brown vote coupled with a potentially vulnerable incumbent state legislator.

"Frank" asks via email:

Do you think that Scott Brown's defeat will have any impact at all on the Beacon Hill hacks in the Legislature? Will these clowns get any serious opposition in either September or November? Do you think we will see not only GOP challengers to incumbents, but Democrats in the primary - tired of the nonsense going on in the State House?

"victoriaryan" asks:

What has Sam Yoon been up to since the campaign and his city council term ended?

His term just ended at the beginning of this month, so give him a little time. He's got his private practice, which he kept up while councilor, to bring in money; I haven't heard of any job offers, but there may be some things in the works.

"Anonymous" asks:

Is Ayanna really taken? Have you, or anybody you know, asked Ayanna or Ayla out since Tuesday night?

First of all, Scott Brown's younger daughter is Arianna; Ayanna Pressley, Boston city councilor, is single and as far as I know, available.

I don't know how taken Arianna Brown is. I have not asked out either daughter, both because A) my wife might disapprove, and B) I suspect that Scott keeps a rifle in that pickup truck.

"Tim Grace" asks:

Does the SCOTUS campaign finance rulling open the door for single-issue driven third party/independent candidates?

Tim also asks whether Scott Brown drove the truck down to DC; the answer is no, but he did wear the barn jacket. Don't know whether John Kerry wore his from the 2004 campaign when they met up.