Is recalling Schwarzenegger going too far?

Great Debates
#1

There is an effort to recall Govenor-Apparent Schwarzenegger. Yes, it’s true. The wheels are in motion. They’re not kidding. Here’s the link to Sunday’s 9/28 Doonesbury comic strip, with the petition included.

I’m a proud liberal, born and raised in Granada Hills CA, but enough is enough. Our democracy is falling apart. This is enough to make us Floridians blush, where we can’t manage to punch the chads and we turn away black voters.

Should recalls be limited to office holders that commit criminal acts? I say yes.

God help us.

#2

Morally, it’s just a case of the sauce being good for the gander as well as the goose.

Still, as a fellow Californee leeberal, I’m sick of the whole stupid recall business. Whoever wins after the dust settles should get stuck with the job, just to show 'em. :wink:

(Except for Darrel Issa; I would sign a petition to recall him in a heartbeat for starting this whole mess)

#3

That, since it was in a COMIC strip, was what some around here call a “joke”. :rolleyes: They can’t even start the process yet, legally.

Mind you, since Ahnuld could be elected with something like 20% of the vote, a recall might not be a bad idea.

Let’s face it, if the GOP gets away with this recall, there will be a recall every year.

That’s why I am voting a big NO! on the recall, even though Davis is hardly my ideal idea of a Governor.

#4

Endless recalls! Go for it, dewdz! Like, fer sher, yer all soooooooo much smarter than us folks here in the midwest, so like, fer sher, you dewdz MUST be doing the right thing, y’know, to, like, have these recalls, 'n stuff, y’know.

#5

Yep, and this right of center Californian, who is not a fan of Mr. Davis, considers this whole recall drive bad business.

Although constitutionally permissable in this state it is just plain wrong to run every politician out of office, via recall, unless guilty of a high crime or misdemeanor. Putting the fate of an elected official at the mercy of recall is just another kind of special interest getting his/her/their way.

The electorate handed Grey Davis a rope in the last election, as we do all politicians. It should be up to him, his performance as governor, and finally the voters, to either slip it around his neck or not in the next general election.

And to think I laughed at the chad mess in Fla.

:smack:

#6

Is this not a joke? Seems like a satirical prod at the recall process to me, putting out a recall petition on somebody before they’ve even been elected. That whole “Sure he might lose…” thing in the last panel suggests to me that it’s intended as a joke.

At least, I hope it’s not serious. Is anyone really that dumb?

#7

IIRC, every governor since Reagan in 1968 has been the target of a recall effort. It would be unusual if this tradition was not kept intact thru a Schwartzenegger administration. It’s important to differentiate between an “effort” and an effort successful enough to get on the ballot. The latter has only happened once (and we’re in it right now).

#8

DrDeth

Bustemante said in the debate, and this is from memory: “If this recall passes, there is already an process underway to recall the winner of the recall.”

Can anyone with knowlege of state election law tell us if Trudeau is breaking some laws here, as suggested above, by soliciting signatures for the SOS?

#9

I’m guessing here, but I would imagine that the “effort” underway is organizational in nature. Getting the logistics ready-- that sort of thing. I’d be very surprised if there were any signatures being collected already.

#10

Right. One can start organizing and maybe even gathering money, but there is some time limit on when the actual process of signature gathering can start.

Trudeau was not “solicting signatures”- again, let me introduce you to the concept of a “joke” or “irony”. Often found in “comic strips”. :rolleyes:

#11

We must remember that one of the reasons the recall could go through at all is that Davis and his opponent, Simon, were so uninspiring that turnout was very low, making the 12% number of signatures easier to obtain.

This is one situation in which I hope media saturation of the 136 unqualified people on the ballot will bring about voter apathy to the extent that hardly anyone shows up. Then the Arnold recall, if the opportunity presents itself, will be even easier to crank up.

I’m voting no on the recall, in spite of Davis’ incompetence, for similar reasons stated above, but if Arnold thinks it’s such a good idea, we’ll see how he likes one directed at him.

#12

To me, it seemed that the new thing in this year’s recall was Issa’s spending over a million dollars to fund a signature drive. Has any previous, failed recall effort been similarly funded?

#13

Call me paranoid, but I still think the whole thing is a Bush cronie plot to try to get California “Republican-ready” for the Presidential Election in 2004.

That said, unless Davis wins, I think they should start a recall immediately. The whole thing is out of whack and the only way to prove it is to have one recall after recall after recall until the idiots figure out a way to leave elected officials in office, unless they have committed a felony.

#14

Of course, you don’t mean “Arnold-ready,” since Schwarzzenegger will never be eligible for a presidential run. If anything, this cynical attempt to steal a governor’s seat they couldn’t win legitimately in the general election will put Republicans in a bad light come the 2004 election, especially if the Terminator wins and fails in the actual job.

As for yet another recall, I hope that’s just Gary Trudeau’s idea of dark humor. If everyone is so concerned about the financial mess in California, they should consider what this recall election is costing, and what another will cost. Personally, I think Issa should have to pay for all of this recall, and whatever Democrat jerk (grudgingly admitting here that the Democratic Party has jerks, too) proposes its bastard twin should have to foot that bill.

#15

So if Arnold wins the election, you will consider this a “steal”?

By that standard, has there ever been a governor who didn’t steal his seat? Since they mostly got where they are by getting more votes than the other guy.

As far as I am concerned (not very - I don’t live in California), let the Dems start up their recall as soon as they like.

The only reason the recall got anywhere was that, in the perception of the voters, Davis botched his job so badly as to warrant getting booted. If the Dems try it on Schwarzenegger, before he is given any chance to do the governor’s job, they will be perceived as petty, mean-spirited sore losers.

Is that an image you think they want in the most populous state in the Union, in the last election before 2004?

“Vote Democratic! We never admit when we have lost!”

Sheesh.

Regards,
Shodan

#16

Every time a candidate loses (which is every election) they could launch a recall against the winner. So why has this rarely been done in California? Because Davis is an egregious bad governor, that’s why, IMO.

The default for most people is to keep the sitting governor even if they don’t like him much. If it were just Republicans and the vast right wing conspiracy they would have chance of “stealing” an election. They are outnumbered in CA by Democrats by a wide margin. Plus the independents would be loathe to sit by and let the Republicans steal it, so they’d vote “no”. It would be an exercise in futility.

If Schwarzenegger wins, they will probably get enough signatures, but would be unlikely to have a successful recall.

#17

Maybe, maybe not. I hope not. www.sltrib.com/2003/Jul/07162003/nation_w/75857.asp

But I think what DMark meant is that the Republican party is really, really hungry for California’s electoral votes, and a Schwarzenegger victory puts a compliant strongman at the helm who could help deliver the prize.

Until California gets a law saying that “an election is an election, and you’re stuck with that guy until his term runs out”, he’s absolutely fair game for a recall. (I can’t wait to hear those cynical sacks of garbage prattle on about how “the liberals don’t respect the election process”!)

#18

Davis and his democrat assembly-backed bills that he signed into laws has had more damaging effects on this state than Bush has had on this state, job-wise. Chasing off businesses and extracting more revenue from the ones that stay is like trimming a fruit-bearing tree down to a stump.
I see this as a win-win scenario for the Republicans:

If Davis keeps his seat by beating the recall, he will still fumble and send the state further into chaos, making the state ripe for a GOP governor in the next scheduled election. He and “Bustamecha” will be keeping an eye on each other in distrust and that will further cause ineffectiveness of our democrat-ru(i)n state.

If Bustamecha wins, then he will inherit Davis’ slop and then blame will automatically be piled onto him for not correcting the flawed Democratic plan to pull the state out of the crisis.

I actually think that the GOP will be better off by losing in this recall…the Democrats haven’t finished their legacy of destroying the total economy of California just yet, but when they do, any well run GOP candidate (hint: McClintock) would be a shoe-in to turn things around. If not - I’ll set up shop somewhere else along with many other businesses. Let them tax the mountains, trees, and ocean to keep their pork projects afloat.

Any Californian employees know about the NEW payroll deduction for paid medical leave yet? Starts in 3 months…courtesy of your governor! Don’t forget to register those vehicles, too!

#19

I get that you don’t like the Lieutenant Governor, and that’s your prerogative. But “Bustamecha”? Am I missing a reference here? Am I going to feel stupid when you explain what it means?

probably :o

#20

This election isn’t like many others in American history–I can’t think of one.

I’m not saying it’s different because Gary Coleman is a candidate.

It’s different because there are two parts to the ballot. The first is “Should Gray Davis be recalled?” and the second is “If more than 50% of the voters answer yes to question one, who should be governor?”

So Davis could garner 49% of the vote in the first question, and he’d be bounced out of the governor’s office by someone who won 20% of the exact same voting population at the same time. Do you actually consider this democratic? By what standards?
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That’s a subjective political assertion based on a subjective premise; the recall became validated by something like 12% of eligible voters. Twelve percent. You can say that it’s the perception of the voters that Davis is incompetent; I say that it was a hugely motivated Republican minority that got the recall on the ballot, and it’s a general anti-politician sentiment that has led to the current poll numbers.

**

“Vote Republican! We lose all the time, but it doesn’t count if we can change the rules afterwards!”