We can't commend Arianna Huffington for quitting the California race:

"I am dropping out of the race so I can campaign full time between now and Oct. 7 against the recall and against Arnold Schwarzenegger," she said in a telephone interview this afternoon. She publicly announced her decision in an appearance on the "Larry King Live" show on CNN Tuesday night.

What about the absentee voters who already cast their vote for her? They are now voiceless if the recall succeeds. They wasted their vote.

When we were at a seminar in California a few weeks ago, we were suprised to learn that quite a few of the defenders there had cast absentee votes for Arianna as a replacement candidate after voting "no" on recall.

If the recall succeeds, their vote may as well have been for Arnold. Arianna knew she couldn't win when she began her campaign. If she was going to drop out, she should have done it before the absentee voters were allowed to cast their vote.

She gets no credit in our book. In fact, she gets a failing grade.