[Congressman Billybob]

The article is an excellent, scholarly piece that puts the rare remedy of recall in perspective. It should be required reading for all reporters who take at face value the claims by Democrats as disparate as Willie Brown and Howard Dean that recall might be used "all the time" and would "damage democracy."

As for your comment about Tammany Hall, did you know that that corrupt big-city machine is older than the United States under its current Constitution? It started as a social organization in New York City. Aaron Burr led the effort to turn it into a political machine to elect slates of candidates and pass out patronage to maintain that process of electing officials in the future. That change of Tammany occurred before 1787, when the Constitution was written.

John / Billybob

[NYC Republican]

I've done a lot of reading on the history of NYC, and especially Tammany Hall (i.e- Gangs of N.Y, etc). Thanks