The Skinny

The Capitol Press corps says goodbye to Schwarzenegger press secretary
Margita Thompson the only way they know how: with lots of alcohol. The “off the record” farewell will be Thursday, December 14, before Thompson takes her new gig as the head of governmental affairs for HealthNet. Thompson, the only press secretary the governor has had, will leave the cosy confines of the Capitol for Los Angeles for the new gig. Meanwhile, communications director Adam Mendelsohn says he hopes to have Thompson’s replacement in place before the end of the year. … And what about this little nugget from ESPN’s hunt for Mark McGwire. Big Mac, who has become the Thomas Pynchon of the baseball world since his non-confession steroids confession before Congress, now lives “bunkered within the walls of his exclusive enclave, across the street from a U.S. congressman of all things, he can look out the windows and see the mountains rising in the distance.” That congressman? Former state Assemblyman John Campbell who says he never talks baseball or politics with his neighbor.