California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is in Ohio today, campaigning for and with John McCain. People have been asking me: why? It's a good question. The governor has nice things to say about Obama (even suggesting he might work for a President Obama someday), disagrees with McCain and the national Republican party on issues, and likes to associate himself with winners, not losers.

The answer boils down to two words: habit and loyalty. The governor of California is a creature of habit. In 1988 and 2004, Schwarzenegger campaigned in Columbus, Ohio -- where he has business interests, including a share in a suburban shopping mall and an annual fitness convention and bodybuilding tournament known as The Arnold -- on the Friday before election day. This year, he goes again to central Ohio the Friday before election.

But the other motivating factor is loyalty. Schwarzenegger doesn't get much credit for being loyal; he's generally thought of by people in the political sphere as more than a little disloyal. But in his personal relationships, he's remarkably loyal. His friends today were his friends 20 years ago. And McCain has been very loyal to him. The weekend before the special election in 2005 ,when it was clear to everyone (except perhaps the hyper-optimistic Schwarzenegger) that his initiatives were going to lose, McCain flew to California and rode on Schwarzenegger's campaign bus through the Inland Empire. McCain backed Schwarzenegger when the governor was in political trouble. Today, Arnold returns the favor.

A break from direct democracy for a quick thought on baseball and politics: It's not the Boston-Los Angeles World Series that TV executives wanted, but has there ever been a more politically important World Series than Philadelphia-Tampa Bay? The Phillies and Rays represent arguably the two most important swing regions in the country. The counties outside of Philadelphia, full of Phillies fans, are a hotly contested battleground. And Obama needs to turn out big numbers in the city itself to win Pennsylvania. And Tampa Bay is the western edge of Florida's swing corridor; statewide elections are decided by votes in the region from there to Orlando.

Prepare to see pandering from both Democrats and Republicans to fans of both teams. Look for Obama, who needs Pennsylvania desperately, to sound a bit more pro-Phillie and for McCain, who must hold Florida for the Republicans, to talk up the Rays.

If you thought that the economic crisis had wiped health reform off the issues map, think again. Health care is red hot on the campaign this week.

Obama has been speaking about health care on the stump, arguing McCain has a "radical" plan that will shift costs to families. Obama is running at least four TV commercials on health care (see ads called "Coin," "Mother" "Two Extremes" and "The Ultimate Bridge to Nowhere"). We haven't spotted any health-policy focused ads from McCain, and we don't see any on his web site. (Please send us a link if we've missed it).

Obama attacks McCain's health plan on numerous fronts—how the plan to tax benefits and shift people into an individual market would probably have fewer patient protections than it has today; how McCain's plan would undermine employer-sponsored health plans, and the lack of protections for people with pre-existing conditions. In the ad called "Two Extremes" Obama also takes on the McCain campaign for accusing him of orchestrating a government-takeover of health care, and then outlines the way his own proposal will preserve the parts of the employer-based private system that work today while fixing what's broken.