Thank heavens the recall circus is finished and, whether you
like him or not, we have a governor-elect who won, it seems, by a
wide enough margin that Calilfornia won
’t have to endure recounts and lawsuits challenging the
results.
Thank heavens the recall circus is finished and, whether you like him or not, we have a governor-elect who won, it seems, by a wide enough margin that Calilfornia won’t have to endure recounts and lawsuits challenging the results.
Now we have to live with the results. Some – including Doonsebury cartoonist Garry Trudeau, who included a recall petition in a recent Sunday strip, and Gray Davis supporters, who chanted the r-word during his gracious concession speech – want to recall Arnold Schwarzenegger.
I don’t. Just as I thought Davis was elected fairly and should have been allowed to finish his term, Schwarzenegger was also elected under California’s (ill-advised) recall law auspices and should be allowed to govern.
But the recall-Schwarzenegger sentiment is more than just political sour grapes. It’s a what-goes-around-comes-around object lesson for those who would recall a fairly elected governor because they don’t like his policies, rather than because of any criminal wrongdoing.
I hope that those on both sides of the recall issue who said they favored changing California’s lax recall rules will follow through and work to raise the standard – both in terms of the number of petition signatures required and cause for recalls – posthaste. California can’t afford – financially or politically – to go through this kind of upheaval again any time soon.
Voters need to cast intelligent ballots – both in the primary and general elections – and know that they’ll have to live with the results.
Pick your philosophical school – there’s the Biblical “you reap what you sow” expression or the eastern idea of karma – but we’re going to be reaping lots of karma in California in the coming months.
One downside of the end of the recall election is that I won’t get to hang up on the likes of Bill Clinton, Al Gore, Barbra Streisand, Sharon Davis and Barbara Boxer, all calling with those abominable taped messages telling me how to vote on the recall and propositions.
Most people abhor telemarketing calls – that should be clear to anyone with half a brain – so I don’t understand what makes supposedly savvy political handlers think taped phone calls will sway opinions. Those highly paid political operatives enamored by taped celebrity calls would be wise to look at the brouhaha erupting over the do-not-call list legal challenges and heed my advice: can the calls.
On the upside, I’ll be able to concentrate on politics on a national scale. It will be interesting to see if the Democratic spin on Davis’s recall – that voters are angry at ‘insiders’ who take budget surpluses and turn them into massive deficits and will direct that anger at President Bush – holds true. I’m also interested to see if that ‘outsider’ appeal will help my current favorite Democratic presidential candidate, retired Gen. Wesley Clark.
The California recall season was an entertaining political spectacle while it lasted, but I’m happy it’s over. We’ll see how Gov. Schwarzenegger does when the heavy lifting he has to do isn’t barbells, but keeping the promises he made on the campaign trail.
Lisa Pampuch is a former City Hall reporter for The Times and former City Editor for the Gilroy Dispatch. She lives in Morgan Hill with her husband and two children. You can reach her at li*********@***me.com
