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Random commentary and senseless acts of blogging.
The first Republican president once said, "While the people retain their virtue and their vigilance, no administration by any extreme of wickedness or folly can seriously injure the government in the short space of four years." If Mr. Lincoln could see what's happened in these last three-and-a-half years, he might hedge a little on that statement. Blog critics Gryffindor House Slytherin House Ravenclaw House House Elves Beth Jacob Prisoners of Azkaban Muggles
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Friday, July 25, 2003
Recall News The recall election of Gray Davis has now been formally certified and scheduled for October 7. The latest Republican to show up as a possible candidate is Jack Kemp, who formally served in the House as a New Yorker. This strikes me as one of the less plausible story lines, given his lack of roots in this state, unless you count the house he used to make available for Reagan staff parties. At this point I think Schwarzenegger is unlikely to run. He clearly wants to, but his wife is against it. If Schwarzenegger doesn't step in, former LA mayor Richard Riordan will, but Riordan has said he will wait for Schwarzenegger's decision. The best line on Schwarzenegger's potential candidacy comes from Bill Maher: "Finally, a candidate who can explain the Bush administration's positions on civil liberties in the original German."
Former Republican Arianna Huffington has also been making noises about running. That's an intriguing proposition - as an outsider with lots of money, a conservative background and now populist leanings, Hufffington doesn't need to worry about offending Davis and could compete for the votes of Democrats, Independents, and even some Republicans. She could be a strong candidate.
The Democrats continue to put up a united front, refusing to field a candidate. I'm still not convinced this will hold, and I see no reason to hope it will. Democrats should oppose the recall, and I will vote against it. I see it as part of a pattern with such incidents as Florida 2000 and recent events in Texas of Republicans pushing to and sometimes past the very edge of legality to grab more power than they can get within the bounds of traditional partisan competition. But Davis is unpopular for good reasons, and he has not been so good for either the party or the state that there's any reason to put all our eggs in this one shaky basket.
Incidentally, I previously said in another post on the recall that Dianne Feinstein had never lost a statewide race in California. A commenter caught me on this and correctly noted that Feinstein ran unsuccessfully for Governor in 1990, losing to Pete Wilson. |
