THE POSSIBILITIES are endless. In California, it’s said any Republican could defeat Democratic governor Gray Davis–except the guy who won the GOP primary, Bill Simon. So if Simon drops out, Republicans could install The Terminator, a popular GOP figure better known as Arnold Schwarzenegger, as their gubernatorial candidate. In Arkansas, where Tim Hutchinson is in deep reelection peril, Republicans could name his brother, Asa, now head of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, as his replacement. His election prospects would be brighter, thus improving GOP chances of taking the Senate on November 5. Or in Illinois, where Republican Jim Ryan is running far behind in the governor’s race, why not get the state’s most acclaimed elected official, House Speaker Denny Hastert, to step in?

If all of these possible candidate switches seem bizarre and more than faintly unethical, it’s because they are. But they’re no more absurd than the attempt by Democrats to replace Sen. Bob Torricelli as their candidate in New Jersey. Torricelli, a one-term senator, is running far behind his Republican challenger, Doug Forrester, and for good reason. Torricelli was reprimanded by the Senate for accepting gifts improperly. And last week federal prosecutors said they believed the testimony of David Chang, the New Jersey resident who said he’d plied the senator with gifts and money. Chang is currently in jail for having done so.