Here we go again?

So we have an economy that's flatlining; an LDP led by a youngish botchan with a traditionalist, if supple, spine; a formerly puissant opposition party hellbent on auto-cancellation...

Can someone please enlighten me as to what this commercial is trying to teach me about the Democrats? "Our captain, who lacks even a modicum of dress sense, is too weak to guide the ship of state. He does, however, have friends" seems the Amaterasu-damned weirdest political message ever...and what about the home page that seems to erupt from out of the chest of DEVO's "New Traditionalists" era? And what the Hell is a "Seikatsu Ishin" supposed to be, anyway?

...and now a comedian prevails over the establishment candidate and a host of pretenders in a wide open election for a governorship:

Higashi wins Miyazaki governor race
The Yomiuri Shimbun

Former TV personality Sonomanma Higashi on Sunday won the gubernatorial race in Miyazaki Prefecture with 266,807 votes to fill the post vacated by former Gov. Tadahiro Ando, who was arrested after resigning over alleged bid-rigging.

In his first election, Higashi, 49, whose real name is Hideo Higashikokubaru, beat four first-time candidates, including former Forestry Agency Director General Hidesaburo Kawamura, 57, who placed second with 195,124 votes, becoming the first entertainer to win such an election since 1999 when Knock Yokoyama won the Osaka gubernatorial election.

Higashi's victory, achieved with support from a large number of unaffiliated voters, is likely to have an impact on the strategies of the major parties as they prepare for the unified local elections in spring and the House of Councillors election in summer.

With distrust of politics spreading in Miyazaki Prefecture due to Ando's alleged involvement in bid-rigging, Higashi, a well-known entertainer, announced his retirement from show business to run in the election.

He embarked on a grassroots campaign without backing from political parties and organizations, winning support from young people and women not affiliated with any political party.

He pledged to scrap the designated bidding system for public works projects and to dole out harsh punishment for prefectural government employees involved in rigging bids. He also proposed selling prefectural farm produce under the Sonomanma brand.

It's like 1995 all over again...and only a month after the passing of former Tokyo governor and sweet soul Aoshima Yukio...