California Uber Alles
So the pro-recall folks think they have enough signatures to overturn the 2002 election of Governor Gray Davis, hold a special election, and try to sneak a Republican into the top office of the most important and populous state in the Union, despite having lost every statewide office in California in the last election. Of course they do. In the United States of George Bush, Karl Rove and Tom DeLay, this constitutes a perfectly legitimate tactic. Use every possible loophole and advantage to secure power at any cost, then wield it as though it were a bulletproof mandate obtained by a landslide vote.
It’s high time for the Democrats to stop being accomplices to their own political murder. This is an out-and-out coup d’etat, run entirely for partisan advantage. Davis may be a charisma-challenged party hack having some trouble with the budget, but there’s no evidence he pocketed the money himself, or killed anyone, or did anything meriting removal from office prior to the end of his elected term. Consequently, there’s no reason for anyone to treat this recall effort as having a shred of legitimacy, least of all the California Democratic establishment who will surely be the first people up against the wall should this revolution succeed.
If I ran the Democratic party in California, I would make sure Secretary of State Kevin Shelley refused to count the signatures or certify the results of the recall petition. Simply refuse to do it, and make the recall proponents spend time and money taking it to the courts. At the very least, this might push the date of the election to the normal November slot, where other issues would be on the ballot to draw recall opponents to the polls.
Next, select a single candidate to run in the special election. Hold a caucus, a straw poll, whatever, but make it binding and inflict pain of death (zero party funding) on anyone who breaks ranks with the results. Best of all would be to have Davis step down and Bustamante take over, but there’s no way for the party to force him out, and, after all, he did win the election.
Finally, if the Republican wins the special election, mount an immediate counter-recall effort. It might not be a bad idea to get the lists and the petition-gathering apparatus in place right away, because it should hit the streets the day after the election results. Do not give the new Governor a moment’s peace, or the slightest illusion of legitimacy.
As with the Texas redistricting battle, there is no principle at stake here other than pure power. Democrats want to govern, but Republicans want to rule, and they have served notice that there is no institution they will not subvert, no technicality they will fail to exploit, and no means of advantage they will fail to seize in furtherance of their goal. Nietzsche warned that he who tangles with monsters may become a monster, but if the Democratic party fails to stare unflinchingly into this abyss, the abyss will be staring at all of us soon enough.
2:16:37 PM 
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