I hate this idea. Impeachment of Clinton for lying under oath was one thing (and TROLLS- do not try to turn this thread into a Clinton impeachment discussion), but simply deciding that you don’t like a governor and trying to have a ‘re-do’ strikes me as overtly partisan and a subversion of the process (I know it is technically legal- don’t lecture me):
A Republican-led campaign to recall California’s Democratic governor, once dismissed as improbable, now appears poised to qualify for the ballot – and to shake up California politics like never before.
The outcome is anyone’s guess, and the situation has politicians from both parties scrambling. It promises to be “a wild ride,” promises one political consultant.
Gov. Gray Davis was elected in a landslide in 1998 but his approval rating tumbled to 28 percent amid voter wrath over the state’s energy and budget crises.
The people of California knew what they were voting for, and they re-elected Gray Davis. I am not saying this as a ‘let’s punish Californians for being so stupid they re-elected Davis, so they should have to live with him’ attitude, but rather as a simple statement of fact. He is their governor, and barring criminal activity (not alleged activity), I am against recalling him. This is simply a bad idea. If the California Republicans had half a brain and were not morons, they would have voted for Riordan in the primaries in 2002. Instead, they went for rigid ideological purity, and put forth an absolutely unpalatable candidate- Hell, he was such an awful candidate he is lucky most of you probably can’t even remember his name. I will put his name in the extended entry below, but I am betting most of you won’t remember, as he was that awful. Worse than Gray Davis- if the voters are to be believed.
At any rate, I think this recall is cheap and tawdry and I hope the Republicans get burned for it.
The Analyst and the Southern Cal. Lawyer have some opinions on this issue.
Bill Simon
Stephen
I agree and wrote up a similar post on my blog.
JKC
As I said over at Tacitus’s blog, it also starts to paint the Republican Party as a group that tries to subvert or ignore elections that don’t turn out their way. Not an image I’d say they want to cultivate.
Jeff
“Barring criminal activity?”
That is not the threshold for a recall election. Your angst is more properly directed towards the recall law itself (or perhaps those that drafted it in the first place) and not on a legitimate exercise of the recall.
Disagreeing with the recall is akin to those who perpetually commment that Bush did not receive a majority of the popular vote…(“he was selected, not elected”, etc.).
So what, the law allows a presidential victory by electoral vote. California officials serve at the pleasure of the California voters and are always subject to recall. That’s the system we live with and everyone, including Gray “I never met a contributor I did not like” Davis” has to live with.
John Cole
Jeff- You are right- I don’t like the law, but I also don’t like the application of the law right now, either.
Matthew
John, I agree with you about the recall. It looks really lame on the part of the California state GOP (which remains the most lame GOP in the nation), even if Gray Davis is a terrible governor.
Here’s something Republican recall boosters don’t seem to be thinking about: what if they lose to Davis or another Democrat?
Rather than save resources for the general election, they will probably have thrown themselves off-balance. Think of all the damage Davis could be doing to Democratic credibility during the next three years. Are Republicans so stupid as to want to lose that wonderful opportunity?
(Yes.)
So Cal Lawyer
Save resources? Resources have never been the problem with GOP candidates (witness, Bill Simon and Michael Huffington). It is fielding a candidate that is palatable to “one issue” California voters (i.e. the abortion issue).
I do, however, agree, that the harm in letting another democrat into the governor’s mansion is a big risk for the GOP. On the other hand, the discord caused in the interim is delicious to watch (i.e., those high level democrats who just can’t commit to not run against Davis if the recall goes to the ballot).
M. Scott Eiland
I’m against it too (for much the same reasons as John, including that three more years of Governor Monochrome is bound to do more for the California GOP than a dozen recall elections), but I have the feeling that a lot of Democrats are signing those recall petitions–many of them were holding their nose when they voted for Davis, and they may well be positively thrilled at the notion of booting him and replacing him with a Democrat who isn’t damaged goods. It’s going to be a scramble if it happens, and the outcome will largely depend on which party has more discipline in supporting their guy.
James Robertson
Seems to me that this reflects the unstated desire for a “none of the above” last time around. i.e., if it goees through, the voters are simply asking all parties for better choices.
Matthew
By resources I mean political capital. You can’t raise that in a fundraiser and you can’t get it from a personal fortune.
Justene
The recall is not only legal, but well within the spirit of the California Constitution:
Recall of a state officer is initiated by delivering to the Secretary of State a petition alleging reason for recall. Sufficiency of reason is not reviewable.
California has less of a republican (small r) government than the feds. The recall is pure democracy at work. Every elected official in this state serves at the will of the electorate and “we don’t like you” is reason enough to throw them out. If Davis loses, an awful lot of Democrats have to
Nastylene
The argument that the recall is the law and therefore it is OK is stupid. There are laws on the book that put people in jail for tying their pig up ourside a church, but anyone applying that stupid law would be ridiculed and probably sued for malicious enforcement. The fact that the law was not repealed and is still “valid” means nothing.
The same applies here. The California recall is an unweildy law with too low a bar for recall and too low a bar for inclusion.