Recall Madness

This unprecedented recall election is not actually about Davis vs. Issa/Schwartzenegger/Simon or somebody better. It's about whether it is acceptable that some rich guy finances a petition drive (with paid signature gatherers) in order to overturn an undisputed legal election so that he might get himself (or somebody else) elected with far fewer votes instead. It's of a piece with some other nasty political shenannigans we've seen recently --- like impeachment over a blowjob, refusing to count legal votes in Florida and redistricting whenever you get enough votes to do it. These things are chipping away at our system in ways that can potentially cause disaster in the not too distant future. When you start screwing with the actual levers of democracy --- the predictablity of elections, the integrity of the electoral system and a universal acceptance of the results, you have a big problem on your hands.

This is not the theoretical "oh what's the use" kind of common griping about how politics are making people apathetic. This is the actual, literal manipulation of the electoral system. The principle that "the guy who gets the most votes wins the office for a set term" is really becoming subject to debate.
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  thanks to Eschaton

Out of Their Cages
by Maureen Dowd

On the surface, the recall is so complicated that even those who are in charge seem bumfuzzled. John Burton, the State Senate president pro tem, said he had never even heard of the Commission on the Governorship until he learned he might have to convene it this week. But like all California epics, this one revolves around two things: cars and money.

Years ago, Darrell Issa, the right-wing millionaire congressman from San Diego who bankrolled the recall drive, was arrested twice on car theft charges. He ended up making his $100 million fortune developing the Viper alarm system, in which his own voice warns thieves to "please step away from the car." Now he is trying to hot-wire the political system and speed away with the governorship.

"The recall provision was created to get rid of governors guilty of malfeasance — not so malfeasers could put themselves into office," sniffs Chris Lehane, a Gray Davis recall adviser.
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