Posted on 03/08/2003 11:05:39 PM PST by sfwarrior
Nativo Lopez may be a bad omen for Gov. Gray Davis. Last month, Lopez, a little-known school board candidate in Santa Ana, was recalled by local voters, who accused him of fiscal mismanagement and failure to enforce California's Proposition 227, which limits bilingual education in our schools. A landslide 71 percent of the populace -- less than the 75 percent of Californians who disapprove of the job Davis is doing -- voted him out.
And Lopez' malfeasance was minor compared to what many people believe Davis is guilty of. Historically, Californians have tried to recall their governor 31 times. Each attempt has failed, but the current recall movement has taken on a life of its own, and this campaign has all the earmarks of success. There is a strong, experienced leadership heading the effort, and three state political parties have now endorsed it. Moreover, according to a poll released by the Public Policy Institute of California just last week, three-quarters of Californians see the state's $34.6 billion budget deficit as a major problem, and 63 percent are extremely concerned that this economic crisis will mean major cuts in money for education, health care and the environment.
Other signs are out there that indicate Californians are frustrated with Davis. Last November, a neophyte politician and unknown businessman named Bill Simon nearly toppled the incumbent governor of the most powerful state in the Union in the last gubernatorial race, despite Davis' nearly $50 million financial advantage. State Sen. Tom McClintock perhaps best articulated what many Californians instinctively feel: "Not since the days of the Southern Pacific Railroad have special interests so completely dominated our state government at the expense of the people and public policy of California. And even then, it was not possible to find a governor more corrupt and incompetent than the one we have today."
These words helped stir the California Republican Party to vote overwhelmingly to support the recall effort at the state GOP convention last month, despite dire warnings from the party's own leadership. State Assembly Republican leader Dave Cox, warning of a backlash if the GOP got involved in this campaign, said Republicans would be perceived as sore losers and added that there is more important business to take care of. Additionally, President Bush's adviser and liaison in California, Gerry Parsky, felt that the recall campaign would drain volunteer resources and money from the real battle of getting California to go for Bush in 2004. Despite misgivings from the party hierarchy, however, the rank and file still felt compelled to go ahead.
The GOP was not the first political party to support the recall, though; The Libertarian Party and the American Independent Party have already gone on record in support of the recall campaign, although the People's Advocate, a bipartisan tax-watchdog and good-government group, is taking the lead. This organization is a force to be reckoned with, having already qualified 12 statewide ballot measures. And it has the money, the know-how, a successful track record and a network of signature gatherers.
The petition for the recall was filed with the California secretary of state Feb. 5, and the People's Advocate must now solicit 898,000 signatures to qualify for a special recall election this fall. Former state Assemblyman Howard Kaloogian has helped create a Web site, recallgraydavis.com, where petitions can be requested, monies donated and the most recent recall news located. Although the site is brand new, Kaloogian crowed, "We've seen over 1 million hits to our Web site in just two weeks. Already, we've signed up tens of thousands of Californians who have agreed to circulate petitions, make a financial contribution or both."
Most California newspapers have already opposed the recall effort; many seem to accept corruption as business as usual and raised opposition only half-heartedly. The Los Angeles Daily News, for example, opined, "Davis may be corrupt and incompetent, but certainly not more than he was on Nov. 5, when California voters decided to give him another term." Gee, that's a response? With weak opposition like that, it seems the ouster is a fait accompli.
Even Davis' own tepid response to the recall effort is a bit disingenuous and far-fetched. He's now resorted to employing the ol' Hillary Clinton response, blaming a "vast right-wing conspiracy." (That's how Hillary initially responded to the news reports of hubby Bill's extramarital affair.) This is how Davis is characterizing the movement in his official response, to be published in the voter handbook: "Just days after the governor's inauguration in January ... a handful of right-wing politicians are attempting to overturn the voters' decision." Apparently, Davis is unaware of his 75 percent disapproval rating. That's a lot of right wingers.
The state is in a major fiscal crisis, and there is an overwhelming feeling among many Californians that although the dot-com collapse may have contributed to it, fiscal mismanagement, political cronyism and corruption have given us a bigger deficit than all of the other 49 states combined. And just two weeks ago, Davis' choice for the presidency of the California Public Employees' Retirement System, San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown, was rejected by the system's board. What does Brown know about financial planning, portfolio management and sound investing? His own city is in turmoil, experiencing a dramatic fiscal crisis wrought in large part by financial mismanagement and overspending. But this terrible fiscal record, according to Davis, apparently now qualifies Brown for heading up an even larger fund. Why not simply choose a professional portfolio manager to head CalPERS? If this isn't classic Davis political cronyism, what is?
Besides the three California political parties on record supporting the recall, many Democrats are behind the effort as well, although the party has not endorsed it. Pat Caddell, a Democratic pollster for both Jimmy Carter and Jerry Brown, has been persuading other Democrats to join the recall campaign since before it even officially began.
And many other leading state Democrats are watching like vultures for the Davis machine to collapse so they can throw their hat in the ring as gubernatorial contenders. Both California Attorney General Bill Lockyer and state Treasurer Phil Angelides have already announced gubernatorial candidacies for 2006. Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi and Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante are unannounced, but both are also pining to live in the governor's mansion.
Most Democratic front-runners don't want to look like they're supporting the recall campaign, so they'll delay any announcement of their intent to run until the last possible minute. For now, they're all being politic, but the long knives will come out as soon as any one of them goes public with his intentions. And that moment will come as soon as one of them finally realizes the people's recall will qualify his petition for the ballot this fall.
A recall bid on the ballot is always accompanied by a list of potential candidates who seek to replace the...
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