Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Orcastraiter who wrote (471957)	10/6/2003 3:50:18 PM
From: JakeStraw	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 769670

What has Davis done for California? Do you even live in California?

To: Orcastraiter who wrote (471957)	10/6/2003 3:55:54 PM
From: JakeStraw	Respond to of 769670

Creating the California recall WALNUT CREEK, Calif. - It took more than one misguided policy, one political misstep or one angry wealthy taxpayer to spark California's first gubernatorial recall election. A confluence of actions, crises and people, combined with a unique set of election rules, created the Oct. 7 election. "There is a long chain of events that brought us here," said John Pitney Jr., a government professor at Claremont McKenna College. Voters have recalled only one U.S. governor - North Dakota's Lynn Frazier in 1921, who was ousted during the economic decline that followed the end of World War I. California Democrat Gray Davis might become the second. Voters will decide whether to let Davis serve the remaining three years of his second term. And if they oust him, they will pick a successor from a field of 135 candidates. Davis is not merely a victim of circumstance. He contributed to the events that might end his political career. Californians re-elected Davis less than 11 months ago. He garnered just 47 percent of the vote. His opponent, Republican businessman Bill Simon, received 42 percent. Minor-party candidates divided the rest. "It was an election Davis won by an unimpressive margin over one of the worst candidates in the history of democracy," Pitney said. "That deprived Davis of a mandate. He got less than 50 percent of the vote. He ran what Attorney General Bill Lockyer called `a puke campaign' that left everybody feeling sour about politics in general and Gray Davis in particular." Of more than 21 million adults eligible to vote, 15 million were registered before the November 2002 election. Only about 7.5 million voted in the governor's race, and 3.5 million voted for Davis. Put another way, only about 16 percent of California adults voted for Davis. But that's not where Davis' troubles began. The trail of the recall began in 1911 with Gov. Hiram Johnson's progressive reforms, which included the ability to remove elected officials from office. The long list of other key people and significant steps along the way include: • Signature threshold: Most states have no provision for gubernatorial recall. Of the 18 that do, California has one of the lowest qualification thresholds. It takes the signatures of just 12 percent of the vote in the last election to force a statewide vote. That seemed like a high bar in 1911. But in modern, initiative-driven California, campaign consultants have perfected the art of signature gathering. Indeed, they have turned it into a growth industry. Ironically, the low turnout that Davis inspired in the 2002 election made it even easier to launch the recall that might drive him from office. • Wealthy candidates: Davis won the 1998 gubernatorial primary by defeating two wealthy Democrats, or, more precisely, by letting them beat each other up. The under-funded political veteran held his fire as two relative novices, U.S. Rep. Jane Harman and airline executive Al Checchi, engaged. Eventually Davis stepped over his bruised competitors to win the nomination. The general election campaign against Republican Attorney General Dan Lungren was a cakewalk by comparison. Davis vowed never to be under-funded again against a wealthy opponent. His subsequent ambitious fund raising drew statewide scorn, even from his own party. • Meddling: The Democratic governor's $10 million campaign to defeat former Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan in the Republican primary created ill will that many Republicans never forgot. While Davis' campaign strategist, Garry South, was bragging after the election about his clever tactics, Davis' foes were plotting the governor's political demise. • Darrell Issa: Without the wealthy Republican congressman and car-alarm magnate, or another millionaire like him, the recall drive never would have collected the signatures to qualify for the ballot. • Policy challenges: Davis came into office championing his policy expertise and vowing to be the education governor. He didn't foresee other policy challenges, especially the electricity crisis and the state budget shortfall that crippled his popular support. Davis didn't create the failed electricity deregulation system. It was born under the watch of his predecessor, Republican Gov. Pete Wilson. But Davis inherited the blackouts as energy producers manipulated the system to increase their profits. Davis didn't create the recession that throttled the state's tax-revenue stream. But he was a key player in the creation of the budgets that depended on free-flowing tax revenues. Perhaps a governor with better leadership skills and a warmer personality could have rallied public support. But leading California today is like trying to drive a car at high speed when it blows a tire. The challenge is to keep the vehicle from veering off the road. Completing the trip is not even a concern. It's all about surviving the moment. That's hard, especially with so many obstacles in the way: The requirement for two-thirds approval of the Legislature to pass a budget. Term limits that focus lawmakers' attention on short-term gain rather than long-term stability. Redistricting for the current decade that created highly partisan legislative districts, where elected officials fare better by holding to political extremes than by compromising. Without any of those obstacles, Davis, who came into office touting his centrist politics, might have been able to lead, rather than follow, the state's policy agenda. Is he to blame? Voters will decide Oct. 7. © 2003, Knight Ridder/Tribune Information Services.