The federal indictment against recalled Mayor Sheng Thao and three others detailed alleged bribes spent on a negative mailer that helped Thao just before the Oakland mayor's election. And that raises an intriguing question - could we have had a different mayor had that money not exchanged hands?

Sheng Thao, the former Oakland mayor recalled by voters in November, has been indicted on federal corruption and bribery charges. She is accused of receiving a mailer campaign and cash payments for her longtime partner in exchange for city favors.