When a couple splits, the hardest part can be divvying up the friends.
Well, in the high-profile breakup between University of Arizona basketball coach Lute Olson and wife Christine, it looks as if Christine got to keep fellow Republican Tim Bee.
Mrs. Olson — a GOP bigwig in Pennsylvania — was part of a group of women who announced their support Friday for Bee, the guy Republicans are betting can knock Democratic Rep. Gabrielle Giffords out of her congressional seat.
Funny thing, Republicans once talked up Mrs. Olson as a prime candidate for the spot back when Jim Kolbe announced his retirement in 2006.
But here's the more important question: Who gets the china?
Zach attack
People are also reading…
Meanwhile, Giffords has brought on a full-time campaign manager to handle her matchup against Bee.
Zach Wineburg, a North Carolina native with a subtle drawl, comes most recently from Iowa, where he worked as deputy field director for John Edwards.
Gabby calls 27-year-old Zach "smart, hardworking and down-to-earth."
He'll also have a lot of money to burn through. Giffords is now sitting on nearly $1.7 million, raising more than $470,000 in the first quarter of 2008. Bee will be releasing his numbers next week.
Arizona "Idol"?
This was "Idol Gives Back" week on the popular Fox show "American Idol," and we were as surprised as everyone else to see John McCain pop up on screen.
The show asked McCain, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton to do videos talking about the importance of America's donating to charitable causes.
Putting politics completely aside, Notebook gives McCain the award for originality. Obama might be younger and hipper, but 71-year-old McCain was the only one who used the opportunity of having a nation of teeny-boppers before him to drop some one-liners.
Like telling British judge Simon Cowell to "watch out" since he's "working on a new immigration plan."
If you're wondering, there wasn't any singing from these three senators.
Thank you.
Lena returns
It was back to the Capitol this week for former state Rep. Lena Saradnik, the Tucson Democrat who resigned after suffering a stroke last year.
Saradnik returned Thursday to see the House pass her one and only bill — creating a "Gold Star" license plate for those having lost family members who were on active duty in the military.
After the bill passed the House, Saradnik received a standing ovation from the full body.
The visit, she said, was emotional on "many levels."
"It was the first time I'd been on the floor since my stroke," she said.
"It's something I hope to do again — but I don't know."
The good news: Saradnik's speech has improved dramatically, and she's regaining feeling in her right arm.
Watch for . . .
. . . an announcement from state Rep. Jennifer Burns, R-Tucson, declaring whether she will run for re-election to the House in Legislative District 25 — a large rural district that circles Pima County.
Burns has said she will make a decision in April, but we haven't heard anything yet.
Her decision could have an impact on the makeup of the House, since the district leans Democratic and, with the help of Burns, Republicans maintain only a slight majority in the lower chamber of the Legislature.
