nytimes.com
July 27, 2003
Supporters of Recall Rally in California
By DEAN E. MURPHY
ACRAMENTO, July 26 — Supporters of the recall on Gov. Gray Davis held a spirited celebration today on the lawn outside the Capitol, congratulating themselves on the Oct. 7 recall election and extending a hand to all Californians to join their movement.
With a keen sense of the history they were making, and of the formidable opponent they face in Mr. Davis, many participants warned against complacency as they take on the bigger task of winning the election. A small group of Davis supporters, lined up across the street from the rally, provided a noisy reminder that the next 10 weeks would be more battle than revelry.
"We have thrown a grenade into the whole political process," said Roger Hedgecock, a former mayor of San Diego and a popular conservative radio talk-show host. "People have a new avenue to take back government, and this is a very important event for that reason."
Three of the most prominent conservative Republicans likely to place their names on the ballot as possible successors to Mr. Davis should he lose the recall vote worked the crowd of about 1,000 people like celebrities. The real celebrity with possible sights on Mr. Davis's job, the actor Arnold Schwarzenegger, was not in attendance.
Mr. Schwarzenegger has been promoting his latest movie and has not said if he will run.
The three Republicans today — Representative Darrell Issa, State Senator Tom McClintock and Bill Simon Jr., who was defeated by Mr. Davis in November — signed autographs, posed for photographs and spoke on talk-radio stations that were broadcasting from tents on the lawn. The men used the Capitol dome as a symbolic backdrop of their take-back-the-government theme.
Mr. Simon, who has not officially declared whether he will run, said he expected a crowded field of candidates and a lively campaign, though he and the others mostly refrained today from criticizing one another. The deadline for candidates to file with local election officials is Aug. 9.
"I think if you have a plan and a vision, and $3,500 and 65 signatures, you ought to be allowed to run," Mr. Simon said, referring to the state requirements for candidates to appear on the replacement ballot. "And it looks like a lot of people are going to be doing that."
The rally, much like the recall itself, reached beyond the conservative Republicans to a broad class of the politically disaffected in a state dominated by the Democratic Party.
As the heat sent people scurrying for shade beneath magnolia and tulip trees, members of the Libertarian Party, the Reform Party and the American Independent Party rubbed elbows. The Pledge of Allegiance was led by Don Lake of the Peace and Freedom Party, a self-described "nearly homeless" veteran from Barstow, Calif.
"I speak as a liberal and a socialist, and I can't stand the guy," Mr. Lake said before rousing the crowd in a chant: "Corrupt! Dishonest! Drop Davis Now!"
One of the first speakers was Audie Bock, a former state legislator from the Green Party, who calls herself a Democrat.
It seems Ms. Bock could become the first Democrat to break ranks with the party leadership, as she announced her intention to run on the replacement ballot to succeed Mr. Davis. Democratic officials had said that no Democrat would appear on the replacement ballot, though they played down Ms. Bock as a minor player with fleeting Democratic credentials.
For many of the recall's grass-roots supporters, who had spent months circulating petitions, the celebration offered the first chance to meet some of the players who were likely to figure prominently in the outcome of the election.
"We probably shouldn't be having so much fun," said Eva Dickson, a farmer from Nicolaus, Calif., giggling with her daughter, Kelsey. "I just got Darrell Issa's autograph. He is a nice man. He has a very honest handshake."
Though Mr. Issa, who provided most of the money for the recall's signature gathering, is the only Republican to have officially declared his candidacy, all of the speeches today had a familiar campaign ring.
Mr. Issa, Mr. McClintock and Mr. Simon took turns standing at a lectern on the Capitol steps, sipping "Recall Gray Davis" bottled water and blasting the governor's record to hoops and hollers from the crowd.
"In the next 74 days, this generation of Californians has its own rendezvous with destiny," Mr. McClintock said. "This generation of Californians has the historic responsibility to restore to our children the Golden State that our parents gave to us."
"Are you ready?" Mr. McClintock shouted.
"Yes," came the reply from the crowd.
"Then let's roll!" he shouted back. |
