Amid rumors that retiring California Senator Dianne Feinstein might make it official earlier than expected, Governor Gavin Newsom is likely to be faced with the second Senate vacancy of his governorship since he appointed (and annointed) then-Secretary of State Alex Padilla to serve as the Golden State’s junior Senator following Kamala Harris’s election to the Vice Presidency in 2020.

Rather than unfairly tip the scales in the three-way fight between Dem Representatives Katie Porter, Adam Schiff, and Barbara Lee to succeed Feinstein, Newsom should appoint an elder caretaker to sit pending a special election (one that should be held this year so Schiff, Porter, and Lee wouldn’t have to give up their House seats to run in the 2024 primary): Former Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Okay, bad idea. It would be a funny stunt and Arnold’s definitely no friend to MAGA, but he isn’t exactly liberal either. The better pick would probably be former Governor Jerry Brown. Or maybe even Nancy Pelosi. She could spend a few months in the Senate just to be able to say she did it, and then run again for her House seat in a special election on the same day.

All of this of course depends on Feinstein resigning soon, which she definitely should, and do her fellow California Dems in the House a favor by moving up the timetable for the voters to pick her real successor without forcing two of them to exit Congress in the primary bid.