Politics

At 3:45PM today, we were doing some last minute prep before meeting with the Lieutenant Governor.  It dawned on me that I didn't know what to call him.  So, I asked our lobbyist.  Here's that exchange:

• Me: "What do we call him?"
• Lobbyist: "Call him Governor."
• Me: "Really?"
• Lobbyist: "Yes, really.  Unless the real Governor is in the room.  Then, you call him Lieutenant Governor."

I'm not making this up.  This conversation actually happened.  And, sure enough, when I met him, I did what I was told and called him "Governor."  So did everyone else in the room, including his staff.

That got me thinking.  Had I been given bogus information?  I needed to know.  So, I just went to Google and typed in "What do you call the Lieutenant Governor?"  Thankfully, there's a website with an answer to that question.  According to The Protocol School of Washington's 'Honor & Respect: The Official Guide to Names, Titles, and Forms of Address,' you are not supposed to address the Lieutenant Governor as Governor.  The reason is pretty simple -- there is only one Governor.

Now that the meeting is over, this all seems so obvious.  Of course there is only one Governor.  This whole thing about referring to the Lieutenant Governor as "Governor" is a scam.  I feel dirty.  That's politics, I guess.