Pictured from left to right is Jim Robinson in the background (seated with a Recall Davis sign), Chadsworth (signing the petition), and me in the yellow shirt.
Posted on 07/10/2003 3:43:18 AM PDT by tame
Finally, here is my report on my experiences and activities gathering signatures for the Gray Davis Recall effort. I may add more experiences in this thread as I remember them. The last three to four weeks have been interesting, educational, intense, and hopefully beneficial to the people of the state of California.
Check out these links for some older reports:
Freeper tame interviewed by local TV station
Tame’s activism update: The Recall Davis effort is going strong in Kern County!
Tame’s activism update, part 2" “Sign here to fire Gray Davis!”
Pictured from left to right is Jim Robinson in the background (seated with a Recall Davis sign), Chadsworth (signing the petition), and me in the yellow shirt.
Pictured from left to right is Jim Robinson, me and JustAmy.
Where do I begin? Well, a quick overview is as follows:
I set up my recall petition table in several places around the central Valley including several Walmart stores, Home Depots, BestBuy, and a Recall Davis rally with the Fresno Freepers (including Jim Robinson, JustAmy, Mama_Bear, jkphoto, Chadsworth, Ladyinred, etc.) on the corner of Blackstone and Shaw. I also took my petitions throughout Riverpark walking around collecting signatures and voter registrations near the bar and grill patio, the Edwards movie theatre, etc. For the most part I spent a lot of time in front of Lowes Home Improvement store.
I was interviewed 3 or 4 times by local television news crews, and these interviews were run on local tv stations (See transcripts from those segments below). All in all I gathered a few thousand signatures.
And then there were the ever present leftists...They reminded me of the wicked witch on the Wizard of Oz when she was doused with water...”AGHHHHHHHHH...I’m Meltinnnnnnnng!”
It was disgusting...and amusing watching several radical leftists make fools of themselves in my presence.
There was the old commie who saw my little niece sitting with me at my petition table and said “You’re brain washing her already, huh?” I guess we know how he must have brainwashed his own kids.
There was the atheist-communist Feminazi who reminded me of Linda Blair–spinning head and all-- in the movie the Exorcist. I asked her if she’d like to sign the recall petition and she asked if I had a recall petition for Bush. I told her I didn’t have tht one but I do have one for Gray Davis. She started into a vile, frothing-at-the-mouth leftist rant.
She ranted that California’s 38 billion dollar deficit was all President Bush’s fault. She even gave Bush credit for knowing about and allowing the 9-11 tragedy to happen. At some point I told her I could never be a Democrat because I’m a Christian. This seemed to make her head spin as she told me she was an atheist.
I tried to bring her back to the subject by asking her if she would triple the car registration fee if she were Governor as Gray Davis did. She said it’s Bush’s fault that Gray Davis must triple the car registration fee in California, and that she would do the same if she were Governor, if necessary to save the state of California.
(I later received a similar reaction from another mentally challenged leftist when I asked “Would you triple the car registration fee if you were governor?” To which he answered “You bet!”.)
I was disgusted but not surprised when the ranting Feminazi yelled out that Bill Clinton was “the best President we’ve ever had.” Barf.
Then there was the nutbag who walked by and said “I bet you’re getting 2 dollars a signature now, aren’t you?” I told him that would be nice and then I asked him if he would like to sign the petition. He responded “I’d like to flip that table over and whip you’re a**!”
Leftists believe in tolerance, don’t you know.
BTW, I find the leftist false-disjunct “Either you believe in what you’re doing or you get money for each signature” hypocritical and stupid. It’s like saying Medical doctors either care for their patients well being, or they get paid for their services. It’s Both/and, dummy! Additionally, I’m sure the leftists support their own pet petition drives, and those pay money for each signature as well.
I find it ironic that many leftists walking by my table would make comments like “Do you have any idea how much a recall would cost the taxpayers?” (translated = ”I like Gray Davis”)
So, now the leftists care about the taxpayers and fiscal responsibility after voting for Gray Davis?!? Bulldroppings! Not to mention the fact that taxpayers might pay pennies each to get rid of a bigger expense...Governor Davis.
I should also mention the furious leftist who insisted on seeing my business license since I was taking donations for bumper stickers.
Leftists believe in playing by the rules, don’t you know–and making conservatives play by rules that don’t exist for everyone else.
But besides those radical leftists who would undermine our Republic every chance they got, also met many wonderful people who helped restore my faith in humanity.
Throughout the whole experience I also learned that many people from Gray Davis’ own party are sick and fed up with him. I’ve had a surprising number of people who voted for Gray Davis for Governor both times and then signed the recall petition. My question is what were they thinking when they voted for him...the second time?
Fresno’s channel 30 action news television crew came over to Lowes where I was gathering signatures and interviewed former congressional candidate and recall organizer Tal Cloud who was also there. They later interviewed me at the same location. Here is a partial transcript of that segment broadcast a few days ago:
GENE HAAGENSON [Action News Anchor]: Good evening, I’m Gene Haagenson. Six Weeks ago many said it would never happen, but tonight organizers of the signature drive to recall Governor Gray Davis say they have collected so many signatures state-wide they are quitting two months ahead of the deadline.
Action News reporter Gerrick Brenner is live in north Fresno where signature gatherers have been collecting names for weeks. Gerrick?
GERRICK BRENNER [standing in front of]: Gene, recall organizers wanted 1.3 million signatures of registered voters around the state and after weekends at stores like this, but also 2 months ahead of their deadline, they say they have them. But also today Governor Gray Davis said that–reminded voters that – he is 5 for 5 in state wide elections, and he said that he intends to run, he intends to win if needed.
REPORTER’S VOICE-OVER (as footage is shown of me gathering signatures): The sign outside Lowes Home Improvement asks shoppers if they are “mad about the car tax”, a reference to the recent tripling of vehicle license fees. If so, “sign here to recall Gray Davis”. In Fresno County organizers say 100,000 have.
STEVE HUMPHREY (a Fresno Voter): He’s just run us down to nothing. We have no money. Everybody, you know, they say the schools are losing money left and right. People are losing jobs.
TAL CLOUD (former congressional candidate and recall organizer): A month and a half ago no one thought it would qualify. We’ve collected almost–over a million signatures in the last six weeks, so it will qualify.
REPORTER’S VOICE-OVER: Six weeks ago the Governor’s staff said the recall had no chance. Now after Republican Congressman Darryl Issa spent a million dollars of his own money to finance the campaign, Davis today faced the prospects of running again.
GOVERNOR GRAY DAVIS: At the end of the day, if I have to face the electorate again, I don’t fear that. I will make my case and I believe the results will be the same as they were last November.
REPORTER’S VOICE-OVER: But even if Davis is bounced a recent LA Times poll suggests the voters favorite to replace him, another Democrat, U.S. Senator Diane Feinstein, if she were to run. Former L.A. mayor Richard Riordan and movie star Arnold Schwarzenegger, both Republicans, are a second choice. The same poll says Davis might survive the recall if voters know what a special election would actually cost taxpayers.
GOVERNOR GRAY DAVIS: The recall proponents are fooling the voters into thinking a recall election is a free ride. It is not a free ride. It will cost the state 30 million dollars.
REPORTER’S VOICE-OVER: But recall backers want to avoid a cheaper election in March when Democrats will turn out to vote in a Presidential primary.
TAME: I think we have it in the bag if it’s a special election. A lot of Democrats are ticked off with this guy and there’s no way they’re going to show up at a special election to reaffirm him. The people who are going to show up at a special election are those who can’t stand him.
ACTION NEWS REPORTER GERRICK BRENNER: Recall organizers may have the signatures, but their fight is a long way from over. The Secretary of State, Kevin Shelley, a Democrat, has told county election officials they do not have to count the signatures immediately. If they wait the Republicans may not get the special election that they desperately want. This controversy could be headed for court. Live in north Fresno, Gerrick Brenner, ABC’s 30 Action News.
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Here is another news segment from the local Fox news affiliate KMPH channel 26 taped a few weeks ago, which includes a clip of an interview with me:
NEWS ANCHOR (while footage runs of me collecting signatures in front of Best Buy in River Park shopping center): Recall petitioners are stationing themselves outside high traffic areas soliciting signatures from registered voters. In Fresno they say they are collecting about 50 an hour.
TAME: It crosses party lines. A lot of people who are signing up here are not Republicans. They are people from his own party. That’s what’s–that’s another surprise to me. I did not realize how hated this guy was by members of his own party, by voters from his own party. I had no concept of how angry they were at him until I started actually talking to a lot of people while they took–while they signed our petitions.
NEWS ANCHOR: Organizers say they’ve collected more than half of the nine hundred thousand required signatures. Their state mandated deadline is September 2. The effort to recall the Governor is even getting some influence from Washington, D.C. Apparently President Bush is anxious to see the Democratic Davis removed from office. In the 2000 Presidential race Bush did not win California’s 54 electoral votes, and has subsequently made only sporadic visits to the Golden State. But with recall rumblings increasing, Bush has asked his top California advisor Gary Parsky to seek out a candidate that would appeal to voters who align with the President.
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Below is a partial transcript of a third news segment with an interview clip of me. I was interviewed by a leftist reporterette who asked very slanted, loaded, fallacious questions. In fact this was the second time she had interviewed me. The first time she interviewed me I finally asked her if she worked for CNN, lol. Anyways, my comments in the transcript were somewhat obscured by the editing. My point was that the recall process will pay for itself if we get a conservative in there who would fight the leftists in the legislature. This segment below was featured on Fresno’s local fox news affiliate, KMPH channel 26:
REPORTER’S VOICE-OVER (while footage runs of me gathering signatures): Experts say taxpayers are taking a big risk.
DON LARSON (“political expert”): If Gray Davis were to succeed in defeating the recall, then the state of California would have to give him the money back that he had spent in running against the recall.
REPORTER’S VOICE-OVER: According to the Secretary of State, Davis reportedly spent 78 million dollars in the last election. And while it’s not known how much the Governor will spend, Larson says one thing is for sure.
DON LARSON: All the state’s stability is in question on any excessive expenditure at this point when we need to be cutting and conserving. This election could really cost the state a great deal of money.
LEFTY REPORTERETTE VOICE-OVER: Recall worker [tame]--
TAME: I disagree. They don’t have to pay a lot of money. First of all, I disagree with the figure that’s being thrown around. Second of all it will pay for itself...
LEFTY REPORTERETTE: And voters we spoke with had this to say–
A VOTER: I mean, I might have to pay it back, but it’s a chance that I’m willing to take.
ANOTHER VOTER: I pay more than enough in taxes already. I figure another couple of cents from every taxpayer is worth trying to change things.
A THIRD VOTER: If he wins again, or if he comes back again, we’re in trouble again.
NEWS ANCHOR: We polled several people in north Fresno today but could not find anyone who was actually against the recall. Meanwhile those behind the effort have until September 2 to collect the nine hundred thousand valid signatures necessary. But organizers say they are confident they will gather closer to 1.2 million before the deadline.
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Well, there you have it. Now, let the battle begin...and please pray!
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The Secretary of State, Kevin Shelley, a Democrat, has told county election officials they do not have to count the signatures immediately.
They can count them next week, next month, next year? What is the deal?
If they delay even for a coupleof weeks, then apparently our hopes for a special election could be thwarted.
Thank you very much for getting out there and doing something!
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