Time to cut Davis loose

There's no doubt Davis is in trouble. He has made a career of convincing voters not to vote for him, but against the other guy. Following the script, Davis has been blasting the recall effort as wasteful, expensive, and unecessary.

Fair enough. The recall effort is stupid, but running against it is asinine. It's fact. The recall will move forward. And for once in his life, Davis needs to give us a reason to vote for him.

Except that it's probably too late. He lags in the polls, and unity within the Democratic caucus is finally cracking. It's time for Feinstein to take her place as the only big-name (D) in the ballot (which will likely sport hundreds of candidates).

Not that I'm the biggest fan of Feinstein, but we need to hold on to the governor's mansion and I'm not about to cast my lot with the Green alliance of Arianna/Camejo. (Though to be honest, Arianna won't run as a spoiler if Feinstein enters the race.)

Note that I do advocate dumping Davis. Granted, I can't stand him and he makes my skin crawl, but there is a certain cold calculus to my decision.

Things are bad in California, and will remain bad for at least the next couple of years. The GOP has pinned the entire blame on Davis. If we replace Davis, then the boogeyman has been ousted. The new Democratic governor walks in with a clean slate and we've solidified our hold on the California governorship for a long time. Hard to blame the deficits on the new governor when they spent so much energy blaming Davis for the mess.

"But what about the precedent?" argue the critics. Well, the precedent has been set. There's no going back. And rather than cry about the recall being illegal or undemocratic (it's neither -- it's valid state law), I'm learning the lessons.

Because the next time a Republican governor is elected, I plan on launching an immediate recall effort against that official. And I'm sure I won't be alone.

The GOP broke a seal that never should've been cracked, and they will get payback.

(Political Wire has several relevant links.)

Posted August 05, 2003 08:28 AM