Davis: Recall Bid an 'Insult' to Voters

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Gov. Gray Davis called the effort to recall him an insult to those who voted for him last year, and Bill Simon, one of the Republicans challenging him, cited his vision for the future Monday and promised to be "the candidate of ideas."

"I don't like this but I am trying to suppress those negative feelings and channel my energies into doing something positive for the people I work for, the people of this great state," Davis said in an interview broadcast Monday on NBC's "Today" show.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=511&ncid=703&e=1&u=/ap/20030811/ap_on_el_gu/davis_recall

Not just California voters either. All voters, just like Florida, Texas and now California.

Voting ....a right of yesterday......

I don't see this anything other than exercise in constitutional rights under California law. If people want Davis to stay in his job, they can VOTE that way.

Use a recall that was intended for criminal activity or as a last resort, and use it simply because you don't like the results of an election?????????????????????????

Who was it who said that no one ever lost money betting on the ignorance of the American people? Or something like that?

Nothing in the California Constitution or Elections Code says anything about recall elections being intended for criminal activity or "as a last resort" (whatever you mean by that). Here is the text of Article 2, Section 14:

"CALIFORNIA CONSTITUTION
ARTICLE 2 VOTING, INITIATIVE AND REFERENDUM, AND RECALL

SEC. 14. (a) Recall of a state officer is initiated by delivering
to the Secretary of State a petition alleging reason for recall.
Sufficiency of reason is not reviewable...." (Emphasis added.)

I am very familiar with California law, thank you. There is something called intent which is involved with all laws. Ever hear of the Supreme Court--their job is largely to interpret intent of laws. You will find NO ONE in their right mind who can say that this law was intended to cover the farce that is going on right now in the Golden State.

Go ahead and defend this Nazi power grab--no wonder the Dems can't control any branch of government!

Back in 1911 the legislature wanted to keep elected officers from getting too lazy or complacent, and to provide a way for voters to promptly remove someone who has demonstrated incompetence. Anyone can initiate a recall of any statewide officer, and only the voters are empowered to determine whether or not an alleged reason for recall is sufficient. It doesn't get any more Democratic than that.

Ever hear of the Supreme Court--their job is largely to interpret intent of laws. You will find NO ONE in their right mind who can say that this law was intended to cover the farce that is going on right now in the Golden State.

The state Supreme Court just threw out a half dozen lawsuits that challenged various aspects of the recall process. Farces and circus-like atmospheres are allowed in politics. The state Constitution does not merely omit a process for reviewing the reason for a recall; it explicitly prohibits such a review.

Go ahead and defend this Nazi power grab...

Take a Quaalude or something, joeybee12. Give the people of California some credit for being able to see what's going on. I'm defending the Constitutional process for questioning whether or not the Governor should continue to hold his office. It all comes down to this at the end of the day on October 7: If a majority of voters are still behind Davis the recall will be defeated. It's really that simple.

...no wonder the Dems can't control any branch of government!

Last time I checked Democrats have solid majorities in both houses of the state legislature.

So will a tiny percentage of California voters be within their rights to recall anyone with whom they disagree even if there's no legitimate cause other than an individual ideological grievance? How can a democracy function that way, if every fifteen minutes, a handful of people can recall an elected official and force them to stand election again against a field of hundreds of applicants whose only qualifications were that they had the support of their immediate circle of acquaintances and $3,000? Why not cut to the chase now? Let's start the recall Arnold campaign right away!

But it takes a MAJORITY of VOTERS to remove someone from office.

How can a democracy function that way, if every fifteen minutes, a handful of people can recall an elected official and force them to stand election again...

The government of California has been functioning reasonably well since the recall process was added to the state Constitution in 1911. The best way to avoid recall elections is for elected officials to NOT FUCK UP ON THE JOB. If Davis hadn't pissed off enough people, the Issa folks would never have been able to gather enough signatures.

Relax, people. This isn't some kind of subversion of the process. This IS the process working right before your eyes.

Fine, a majority of voters have to approve the recall, but public opinion is a capricious thing that fluctatues on a daily basis, it's unrealistic to expect even the most compentent public official to be able to sustain across the board high approval ratings every hour of every day, especially in hard times. Sometimes the most responsible decisions are not going to be popular ones. The public may not know all of the facts, or have the benefit of the bird's eye view which allows a governor to assess a problem from many different pespectives and try to reach a solution that provides relief to the maximum number of people, even if not the ideal outcome for any one group of constitutents. If you create a system in which the voters can, whenever they feel like it, recall an elected official at a moment's notice, how can public officials be expected to exercise their office and make those dificult decisions? Their political survival will necessitate that their choices be dictated solely by how they will be received by the court of public opinion on a day to day basis. At that point, why not dispense with elected officials altogether? Why not just weigh the daily pro and con mail and allow that to be the arbiter of your policy decisions?

Besides, although I gather Davis isn't the most brilliant governor in California's history, isn't there an argument to be made that not all of the problems he's having are in fact his fault? I mean, I understand that state budgets nation wide are going belly up because our beloved Führer decided to blow the budget surplus and give it in the form of tax breaks to his wealthy oil buds, requiring the elimination of pretty much all forms of federal support for state level programs. Isn't that where the true blame lies?

My conscience is clear - I've never missed an opportunity to vote in any public election since I became eligible in 1976.

That's real democratic.

How bout requiring a little more of a consensus, how 'bout raising the bar a little for forcing a surprise election?

Just change the California Constitution. In the meantime, the show must go on.

with the way the general provision is implemented by specific regulations.

If Issa can buy the recall of a democratically elected governor in a state that is majority Democrat (and can do it by relying on financial problems caused by Republican policies...ie, they created the mess they clame they're cleaning up), and if they do it through a ballot measure totally stacked to hurt the democrat, then there's something totally fucked up here.

It IS outrageous.

He's opposed only by himself. Do you think California voters aren't smart enough to understand that?

him are going to be motivated enough to vote.

Normal elections have enough issues on them so that everyone comes to vote.

The people who will be choosing the next governor of CA will not be a cross section of Californians. It will be a cross section of people who hate him.

It seems to me the cesspool of "replacement" candidates should be enough to scare at least some pro-Davis voters to the polls.

Originally posted by Slackmaster:
It seems to me the cesspool of "replacement" candidates should be enough to scare at least some pro-Davis voters to the polls.

And Arnold is the scum floating on the top of that pool. I caught a glimpse of him on Larry King--he hadn't even shaved!!!

And talk about insulting--the GOP goes through all the trouble of conning someone into bankrolling the recall, then pick a total neophyte as their frontrunner! If Davis has done such a lousy job, why in the world would I want to replace him with someone who has NEVER done the job before? Even if I hated Davis' guts, that alone would be enough for me to vote to keep him in office!

rocknation

People bitch about it and then when it happens, they just stand by and say 'oh well, that's the system'. Wrong is wrong, regardless of how much money somebody spends to convince people wrong is right. It isn't like the people of California didn't know who Gray Davis is or the kind of Governor he would be. It isn't like the Republican who is trying to buy the Governor's office for the Republican Party doesn't know exactly why there's a deficit and doesn't know that the deficit has already been cut down to $8 billion 2 years from now. This is just one more abuse of the democratic process. No election is safe.

a political hit.

Yes, the Bush crime family has 1.6 million patsies in California.

:tinfoilhat:

Then whomever wins that recall will be recalled later in 2004.
Then whomever wins that recall will be recalled in November 2004.
etc.
etc.
etc.
etc.

Seems to me like a vote of "no confidence" in the Governor.

Last fall the people of the state of California had four choices. A Democrat, a Republican, a Green, and a Libertarian.
Those chose the Democrat and he's their's for another four years. This is such B.S turing over an election just because do not like the results!

is in the works as I read that
California to "randomly" select ballot spots for 193 candidates...
(Could't go by first names unfortunately - so "random" is the way)

Angelyne

Arnold...

recall, butterfly ballot and redistricting - not for normal, decent people. Who's Angelyne anyway?

Would not think of the obvious first place to look:

http://www.angelyne.com

This is going to be a nightmare.

btw...I think the Calif constitution is inherently flawed if it doesn't provide for a set of "causes" for recall. Open ended gave us this mess.

If Davis led the way NOW and said we need to change this law for the FUTURE, that would be the right thing to do.

It makes you wonder if Republicans are buying off all the low level appointees and representatives who make these decisions.

It puts the decision of whether or not to recall someone all the way back to the voters.

There is no way a corrupt or incompetent officer can be protected by - Which branch of government would you want to be in charge of deciding whether or not a recall election proceeds??? :shrug:

to vote in this recall election.

Anybody who cared enough to get rid of Davis had the chance and now want a do-over. Only those registered voters who voted last Novemeber should be afforded the opportunity to dump him now.

It would be easy to accomplish. They check off all voters when they vote, so the list exists.

Of disenfranchisement, and rightly so. The question is not whether or not we're happy with the guy we elected last November. The question is whether or not we are happy RIGHT NOW with the guy sitting at the Governor's desk.

who wasn't elected by anyone, screwed California , the country and the world? What are you going to do about it?
Before swallowing the media crsp. look the dictionary under democracy. I cannot believe that on DU there are so many media zombies. Maybe I am wrong - and they are just the GOP allies instead - the Greens.

Just as any other responsible voter should.

This recall could end up being the best thing that's happened in California politics in 50 years. IF IT FAILS then think about the backlash that will ensue against Darrell Issa and the other perpetrators. Voters are going to be mighty damn pissed about the waste of time and money.

I really doubt that most of those who put their signatures on the recall even bothered to vote in the last election. That is what really ticks me off about this whole thing. And as for Arnie the groper, word is coming out that he has only voted twice in the last eight elections. What a frickin bonehead loser.

Anyone who cannot be bothered to participate in a democracy should not have the right to complain about election results.

If Gray Davis is recalled and a republican is elected by what will almost certainly have to be a small fraction of a majority, how will they react when the Democrats stage an immediate recall effort?

(Yea I think we all know the answer to that question.)

“Boo-Hoo, Sore Losers, Blah Blah Blah.”

All the more reason Californians should vote against the recall and put an end to this BS.

... I think they'd be in the catbird seat. Imagine ... Feinstein, Boxer, Brown, Brown, Bustamonte, Pelosi, Garamendi, and all the other prominent Dems that have statewide support. How about Martin Sheen, Alec Baldwin, and others? I'll give the replacement "governor" a maximum of 12 months.

The failure of California Democrats to use the same (court-vetted) political weapons would amount to unilateral disarmament and surrender.

Exactly! They should immediately start a recall if a republican wins. Why should any political party respect the legitimacy of any elected official who receives less than a majority of the vote? Since these elections aren’t likely to produce a majority for any candidate if Davis is recalled California may have to install a revolving door in the governors mansion.

Any statewide elected official is subject to recall.