Gentlemen, Start Your Machinations

The California gubernatorial recall, once a longshot, is now on, for as early as Sept. 23 (Daniel Weintraub is predicting Oct. 7). Arnold?s still undecided, as is failed 2002 Republican candidate Bill Simon, but expect press conferences to fly in the coming three days.

Comments

[a true californian]

Talking about "shots," would it be easier and far less energy consuming if the bastard were simply shot, like they do in the rest of the world.

I know, I know, this is America, and we are far more "civilized" than that (I think.)

But still -- all this effort, and money, and time, and energy expended, just to kick some moron out on his ear?

Sheeeze!

[Ron Hardin]

Simon is so lame that people will vote Davis back in. I can't believe he doesn't realize this. Simon could make millions by performing his unique lame style - which beats even Gore's - in TV parodies.

Incompetence and corruption is better than lameness.

[J]

Matt, shouldn't your comments read, "once falsely claimed to be a longshot"?

Turns out the recall drive was very successful, very quickly with relatively little fiscal support. Good or bad, right or wrong, it did not turn out to be a longshot.

[Cheez]

A longshot is what it is, an unlikely gamble that pays off. If you bet on a horse that is a longshot at 100:1, it doesn't become a non-longshot because he's leading by a length and a half just before the finish. Sure, everyone knows he's going to win at that point, but it was the original longshot classification that'll make the other jealous gunkies say, "dam, that longshot sure paid off."

[J]

Cheez...that is exactly my point. If a horse with 100-1 odds wins...then the judgement of longshot was wrong, he was obviously a contender. The fact that the recall movement has already gathered about 30% more signatures than it needed means that it was not an "unlikely gamble"; it was likely all along, and also likely that those who reported it as an "unlikely gamble" had a little bias issue going on.

[Matt Welch]

I would say that before Issa started funding it, most except a few true believers thought it was a longshot.