Posted on 06/28/2003 2:52:36 PM PDT by demlosers
SAN DIEGO -- California's state budget deficit is at epic proportions. Its governor's approval ratings are the lowest ever.
Do Californians need the Terminator -- or maybe Meathead (Rob Reiner, from TV's "All in the Family") -- to run the most populous state?
Organizers of a controversial movement to recall Gov. Gray Davis, who was re-elected to a second term just seven months ago, say they'll easily make the Sept. 2 deadline to collect 898,000 signatures needed to force a special election in the fall that could replace the governor.
Election officials reported that 376,000 names had been presented as of June 16. Organizers say they are verifying hundreds of thousands more.
"We're just exercising the old lemon law," explained Ted Costa, an anti-tax activist helping to lead the recall campaign. "It's just like when you return a car that's burning oil or that has a leaky transmission -- but we want to return the governor."
Many Californians are unhappy over rising taxes and service cuts needed to help offset a projected $38 billion budget deficit. Economic engines such as Silicon Valley are still idling. The 2000-01 electricity crisis remains a vivid memory.
Deservedly or not, the governor is taking the hardest hits. According to a recent poll by the Public Policy Institute of California, about 75 percent of likely voters disapprove of Davis' job performance.
At petition drives and on the Internet, slogans such as "First it was San Andreas Fault; now it's Gray Davis' fault" are common. One recall group has an official song, set to the tune of Don McLean's "American Pie," urging Californians to say "Bye-bye to that Gray Davis guy."
Davis and his supporters characterize recall efforts as a right-wing coup attempt. On Thursday, a new pro-Davis group composed of labor leaders, church groups and others said it will formally ask President Bush to halt the recall effort for the good of the state and of democracy.
So far, only one person has made it known loud and clear that he wants to be governor if Davis is recalled -- the man whose money reinvigorated a recall effort that was foundering just a few months ago.
Rep. Darrell Issa (pronounced EYE-sa), a San Diego County Republican, has provided $1 million to pay signature gatherers to fill petitions. This week, Issa took the bold step of opening a gubernatorial campaign office, even though the election isn't assured.
But Issa, a car alarm magnate, carries political baggage, including several brushes with the law over stolen car charges before he became a congressman. Issa wasn't convicted and has blamed his brother for the incidents, saying they are part of the reason he got into the car alarm business.
Because of Issa's checkered past, and because he and other potential GOP candidates are staunch conservatives in a traditionally liberal state, many Republican Party officials see Arnold Schwarzenegger as their best bet.
As the movement to recall Davis continues to grow, residents might get a chance to choose between Schwarzenegger, who played filmdom's Terminator, and Reiner, who played the piteous Meathead on TV, to replace the governor.
As a moderate and husband of Kennedy family member Maria Shriver, Schwarzenegger has appeal across party lines. As an actor, he has unmatched name recognition.
Last year, Schwarzenegger got his feet wet in politics by pushing a ballot initiative to expand after-school programs. The initiative passed handily, and organizers said it got more bipartisan support than any such initiative in recent history.
Long active in Republican circles, Schwarzenegger has repeatedly said he'd like to be governor but won't announce his plans for a potential recall ballot bid until his new film, "Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines," is released Wednesday.
If Schwarzenegger is going to make a run for governor, this is the time to do it, some say.
"This is a perfect situation for him," said Sherri Annis, a Schwarzenegger adviser on the after-school initiative who now runs a political consulting business in Washington, D.C. "Here you have someone who really is a moderate who can bypass a primary and jump right into a general election and court the entire state."
If the recall ballot is approved, voters would be asked both whether Davis should be removed and who should replace him if he is. If the first question is approved, any candidate receiving a plurality would be elected governor.
As for Democrats who potentially could replace Davis, there aren't many.
In a show of solidarity, the state's top Democratic officeholders recently said they wouldn't make a bid for Davis' job.
That leaves potential outside candidates such as Reiner. The actor and producer has been considering a gubernatorial bid in 2006. He has said he's not interested in being a recall candidate.
But some political insiders say the reluctance of Reiner and other Democrats could disappear if a recall election is scheduled and it looks as though Davis would lose.
"Everybody likes the idea of the Terminator versus the Meathead," Reiner said in a recent TV appearance.
Only one governor, Lynn Frazier of North Dakota, has ever been recalled, and that was back in 1921. Some people worry that trend-setting California could set a precedent for recall drives elsewhere.
"This is a creative way to get rid of an elected governor," said Mary Ellen Balchunis-Harris, a political science professor at La Salle University in Philadelphia who has served as a Democratic convention delegate.
"But it's also very dangerous," she added. "Some 35 states are having problems with their budget right now. What are we supposed to do, recall all of those 35 other governors, too?"
This article contains material from wire services.
He is a total bonehead, but in his defense, he's pretty much just a big liberal. He's not a venom spitting jackass like Streisand, Michael Moore, Al Franken, or Whatshername Garafalo.
Sure! Why not have the U.S. President intervene in California state affairs? Who cares about such antiquated notions as "jurisdiction", "separation of powers" or "legality"? Certainly, none of these groups have let them get in the way before.
And so, to protect "democracy" from being trampled by a democratic process, initiated fully in accordance with California state law by the voters, let's just have President Bush do something. Don't let the fact that he has no legal authority to do anything about a state election slow you down!
I would love to know what disbarred or soon-to-be disbarred lawyers are backing this asinine maneuver.
In other words, he should run as a Demorat. They love to vote for crooks.
After all, that's how Gray Davis became governor in the first place!
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