Was there ever a more pitiful election than the one for
California governor last November?
EDITOR:
Was there ever a more pitiful election than the one for California governor last November?
According to exit polling, some 60 percent of Californians who trooped to the polls disliked incumbent Gray Davis. And 64 percent disliked his Republican opponent. The incumbent won mostly because of the intertia of incumbency and the weakness of the opposition – not because of any sterling track record.
Now there’s talk of recalling Davis. Californians think the governor covered up the size of the state’s looming budget deficit in order to get re-elected. Accountants say the deficit will jump to between $26 billion and $35 billion over the next 18 months. Until after the election, Davis had also remained mute about many of his painful plans for dealing with this deficit: an array of spending cuts and tax increases.
Conservatives are mad about the tax increases, and liberals are mad about the cuts. Regardless of their policy disputes, though, everybody seems to agree that Davis is a duplicitous bungler.
So, can the governor actually be recalled? It would take 900,000 signatures to put the question on the ballot. But California voters have the power. If they’re fed up enough, they just might do it. Just a few weeks ago voters in a town near Los Angeles threw out three local officials for mismanaging municipal funds.
Whether or not a statewide recall effort succeeds, a big push to send Davis packing could be very healthy. It just might inspire other incumbent politicians to be more up front and truthful to the public.
Paul Jacobs, U.S. Term Limits senior fellow,
Arlington, Virg.
