He is now in a wheelchair, paralyzed both literally and figuratively, and he is unable to project strength, has lost the faith of at least half the shareholders and is being outmaneuvered by two stronger members of the board.

Making the situation worse for the board and stockholders is that the other potential head of the company, while she is considered in some ways much more qualified, is despised by most of the directors and distrusted by at least half of the investors.

Such a dilemma for the company known as Nevada Inc., as it ponders a problematic future with such a Hobson's choice.

On Nov. 7, when Nevadans finish off the job they started 10 days ago when early voting began, they will be installing a governor who will almost immediately be seen as legislatively crippled. There can be no historical precedent for electing a chief executive with such high negatives — both Jim Gibbons and Dina Titus will be upside down in their approval ratings come next week. Titus already is disliked by more people than those who like her in every credible poll, and Gibbons, thanks to Friday the 13th especially, is well on his way.

And consider this: Whoever is elected is going to have to harness the kind of legislative finesse and diplomacy that neither seems capable of employing — if the past is prologue. Titus, far from the uniter she has campaigned as, and Gibbons, who has always been a political loner, will most likely confront a divided Legislature led by two of the most aggressive, influential leaders the state has seen.

Such a scene this will be in Carson City.

Assembly Speaker Barbara Buckley, perhaps armed with 28 votes to override any gubernatorial veto, must be licking her chops already. If it's Gibbons, Buckley will relish turning his agenda into mincemeat. If it's Titus, with whom she has never been friendly, Buckley will be the gatekeeper who will carry her agenda so long as the governor stays out of the speaker's way.

Down the hall, Senate Majority Leader Bill Raggio (assuming the Democrats do not miraculously take over) will do what he has always done — run the place. There are those of us who have wondered for years if he is losing a step or two, but even if he has, Raggio is so far ahead that he can afford to slow down. If it's Titus, his longtime foe, he will show her who is still boss. If it's Gibbons, Raggio will carry his water — although the governor would soon discover that water has been turned into an unrecognizable wine by the Senate's resident deity.

That is what this election season has wrought. Forget what you learned in civics about the balance of power, the three branches of government and so on. This isn't Washington, D.C., where the president has done more to assert — or usurp — executive power than anyone in decades. Here in Home Sweet Nevada, the executive branch is about to be bent or snapped off because it will be too weak to govern effectively come February 2007.