The "Roller Coaster" Recall heats up --decision day: October 7th
By Kymberli W. Brady
Staff Writer

The biggest race in California history was on. Then it was off. Now it is on again. On September 23rd, a panel of 11 judges from the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously ruled that the recall election of Governor Gray Davis proceed as planned on October 7th, citing that the election had already begun and fearing that a delay in the process would serve as a "material hardship" on California by disenfranchising the nearly 700,000 voters who had already cast absentee ballots. "These investments of time, money and the exercise of citizenship rights cannot be returned," the ruling said.

Never before has a gubernatorial election dominated the news due to its mixture of political intrigue and Hollywood celebrity. While more than 300 reporters from 100 media outlets and at least five countries jammed themselves inside the Student Union at Cal State Sacramento on September 24th, roughly 2.4 million households watched the second of two key debates, including an estimated 1.6 million viewers in the Los Angeles area, more than watched the televised debates between George W. Bush and Al Gore during the 2000 presidential election.

The attention has given Californians and voters across the nation a unique, up close and personal look at the political system, and resulted in a surge of more than 250,000 new registered voters since early August, with more pouring in daily.

Should voters decide to oust the embattled Governor Davis, 135 potential candidates have qualified to hold a spot on the ballot, including adult film star Mary Carey, watermelon-smashing comedian Leo Gallagher, Hollywood billboard queen Angelyne, Hustler Magazine Publisher Larry Flynt, and actor Gary Coleman, along with a sumo wrestler and a bounty hunter for added color. However, in the interest of editorial space and with concerns for the dire seriousness of the matter at hand, we will focus on the top four contenders punching and jabbing their way into the Governor's mansion.

The Birth of the Recall

Nearly a century ago, California Governor Hiram Johnson led a campaign against political corruption and championed the California recall in an effort to protect its voters. In his inaugural address on January 3, 1911, he stated, "If the people have the right, the ability, and the intelligence to elect, they have as well the right, ability, and intelligence to reject or to recall; and this applies with equal force to an administrative or a judicial officer."

Since then, there have been 31 attempts to recall the governor, all of which failed to make it to ballot -until now. On Tuesday, California voters will be heading to the polls for this historic election to determine whether Gray Davis will be the second governor in U.S. history to be recalled. A lot is at stake as to who will take the reigns on the fifth-largest economy in the world -a decision that is estimated to cost taxpayers $30-$35 million.

The issues surrounding the recall are complex. With his approval rating slipping from 57% at the beginning of 2001 to an all time low of 22% in July, many feel that Davis has led the state to bankruptcy and deceived voters last November by understating the deficit and understating state spending -taking it from a surplus to a record $38 billion deficit and prompting the recall. According to The Secretary of State's office, 1.6 million certified California voters signed the petition to recall Davis -well over the required amount needed to force this landmark election.

The Ballot

The recall ballot will be divided into two parts. The first will ask citizens to vote for or against the recall. The second will ask them to select a replacement from the list of potential candidates whose names have been placed on the ballot by random lottery. Even if voters select no on part one of the recall, they will still be asked to vote on part two. If the recall succeeds, the candidate with the most votes will replace Davis within 28 days of the election.

Also on the ballot are two controversial measures. The first is Ward Connerly's Racial Privacy Initiative, Proposition 54, an anti-affirmative- action proposal that reads, "The state shall not classify any individual by race, ethnicity, color or national origin in the operation of public education, public contracting or public employment." If passed, it would ban state and local governments, including schools and colleges from compiling ethnic data on workers, students, contractors and others. "That would put a halt to classifying people by race," Connerly says, "and help create a 'colorblind' society." Although the state would still be required to track race as mandated by the federal government, racial categories would be eliminated when applying for state universities or public health surveys. Opponents say the government needs the information for research, to bar discrimination, and to help low-income and disadvantaged people. They fear its restrictions on the use of racial data will negatively affect everything from civil rights to public health. According to the impartial California legislative analyst's office, if passed, Proposition 54 will likely be held up in the courts.

The second measure, Proposition 53, is a legislative constitutional amendment that would dedicate funds for state and local infrastructure. Starting as early as 2006, the proposition would set aside several hundred million dollars or up to 3 percent of the state's annual General Fund revenues to build and maintain parks, schools, water projects, roads and other public works. Expenditures would be divided equally between state and local projects (other than school and community college districts) and would include local street, transportation, water, park, and open space projects. Supporters of Proposition 53 say that it would meet critical infrastructure needs such as highways, water systems and universities without raising taxes by requiring a stable pay-as-you-go system of financing. Opponents fear that spending increases locked out of limited existing revenues will come at the expense of other important services such as education, health care and public safety -sighting it as a "blank check" with no oversight or guidelines.

The Players in the governor's race

Despite the circus-like atmosphere that threatened to overtake the campaign, a faction of serious candidates has emerged, including Republicans Arnold Schwarzenegger and Senator Tom McClintock, Democrat Cruz Bustamante, and Green Party candidate Peter Camejo.

For those still contemplating the decision, many felt Gray Davis' responses during a solo 30-minute performance at the "Race to the Recall" debate on September 3rd fell short of making his case as to why voters shouldn't recall him from office -devoting most of his time toward attacking his GOP foes. Although he admitted to having made mistakes, his answers to questions regarding the energy crisis and budget deficit left many unimpressed. "I've gotten their message and I know they are angry," he said. "I understand their lives are not going as well as they were a couple of years ago and I understand I'm the brunt of their concern. But I do believe that at the heart of this, in the beginning, were a group of Republicans that were upset they could not win last November's election."

Davis then vowed to hold more town hall meetings, re-regulate energy, improve stem-cell research, reform worker's compensation and expand HMO reform. "If the good voters of California allow me to serve out my term, I will do things differently and I will make changes," he said. "The biggest thing I will change is to stay connected with the people in this state."

The September 24th debate came on the heels of a decidedly negative turn in the campaign. Schwarzenegger reversed his pledge to stay positive by airing television commercials accusing Davis of "mismanaging" the economy and targeting Bustamante and McClintock for taking large tribal campaign contributions in return for special tax breaks. Bustamante then unleashed his own television ads against Schwarzenegger, claiming that, "Arnold doesn't share our values. He doesn't live in our world. He lives on Planet Hollywood."

McClintock answered with attacks of his own -changing course and targeting Schwarzenegger instead of Bustamante and Davis, much to the chagrin of his own GOP party. And former candidate Arianna Huffington's on-line cartoon ad pokes fun at the "Special Interest Brothel" a.k.a. Davis, Bustamante and Schwarzenegger, calling it "a cathouse for the fat cats."

Ironically, the only one seemingly not on the negative campaign trail is Davis, probably best known in past elections for his political mudslinging. It is a strategy that just might work.

During both debates, candidates were grilled on heated topics such as the budget, workman's comp, the car tax, education, health care, and immigration. Although their views on the major issues differed in many ways, each sided with the voters in favor of Proposition 215, legalizing the use of medical marijuana.