"He was not a bad cat. He was not a good cat. He was a mixed-up cat." — The Fire Cat ---

On the barstool next to me, a man might ask about my day. In response, I might say: "Today, today, today. What can I say?"

It started this morning, when I came to work early only to find that the hoodlums on Main Street were well into their day. For anyone who has ventured down Main Street recently, you know the scene. Hustlers are hustling. Dealers are dealing. Way too many children are crying. People are shouting, sometimes at others, sometimes at the trees. People are dry humping, again... sometimes other people, sometimes trees. But this was happening way too early. Yes, it's an interesting crowd, but not exactly one that makes downtown a welcoming place. It's also one that gets stronger daily with almost nobody in City Hall addressing it. The closest they seem to get is ticketing the downtown professionals for jaywalking ... but that's a whole different rant. Or, maybe, that was the rant.

The news today has me equally befuddled. I think Peter Corroon has run a good race, far better than most Democrats ever run, yet a Rasmusson poll shows him trailing by more than 30 points. Additionally, 25 percent of Democrats of support Herbert. Sure, Corroon has yet to find an issue that can galvanize voters, something I've discussed previously. But these numbers suggest that he's getting nowhere with the groups that he should at least have in the "undecided" category, specifically rural Democrats and urban Republicans. On both counts, I suspect that cultural issues —especially gay rights and immigration — are hurting Corroon. Yet...

Gov. Gary Herbert hosted an LGBT reception last night. Log Cabin Republicans seemed to embrace Herbert, although not physically. Still, he's reaching out to the gay community, or so he seems to want people to believe. Yet ...

Outside of the Log Cabin Republicans, the assessment of Herbert's efforts are not good within the gay community. See Jesse Fruhwirth's blog, here at City Weekly, for a comprehensive review.

Honestly, I'm starting to wonder whether Corroon can gain any traction in this race. He needs to ramp up the campaign, somehow, because poll numbers like these bode badly for him. Yet...

In the Alaska primaries, a candidate who trailed in the polls just last week by double-digits won. Sure, he had Sarah Palin's endorsement and it was a primary race. But still, he was way behind and somehow won. (It was a strange night, overall, in primary elections around the country.) The question that really raises, for me, is what would be happening the governor's race right now if Herbert had faced a very right-wing challenger? Corroon would have the same gaping hole that Sam Granato has against Mike Lee, and would probably be taking better advantage of it. Yet...

Granato has started to make some noise. Kudos to him. He's picking his battles, finding places where he can show his white to Lee's black (or vice-versa). He needs to do that, and then he needs to raise some damn money. Because right now, we're looking at an October filled with Lee, Herbert, Matheson and Corroon commercials, with Granato scrapping for space on public radio and in community newspapers.

Other things confusing me today:

What up in the 801: Snoop Dogg and Ice Cube play the Gallivan Center. The Salt Lake Tribune calls it "one of the biggest hip hop shows ever." Umm, maybe in 1998. And as for the crush faced by downtown? At least 15,000 people show up every Thursday for concerts at Pioneer (40,000 for Modest Mouse), ditto for last year's shows at Gallivan. I think this one sells out at 5,000 and there's still tickets. This reminds me of the hysteria over the "beer riots" during the 2002 Olympics, when five people got in a fight at Bud World.

Obvious, But Fair: Jim Romenesko points out that one of the members of the new Deseret News advisory board is also a leader in the gay marriage opposition.

Fishing in Ogden: It sounds good in theory, having trout within spitting distance of the office.

Bison Chili: I like bison. I like chili. I like bourbon. Thus, I like this recipe. (H/T to The Apartment Farm).

The Open Container Update is published every weekday, even when I'm confused.