Buyer's Remorse

Darrell Issa, the high-strung Republican who largely bankrolled the California recall effort, now says he'll campaign against it unless one of the two main Republicans drops out.

Comments

[joe]

But this wasn't a partisan ploy to undo an election. It was all about Gray Davis being unfit for office.

[Anonymous]

That would seem to confirm the criticism that the recall has all along been nothing more than a cynical partisan attempt to overturn the Democratic victory last November...

[Andy]

Anonymous: It just might be. Or it might be that Republicans were the only ones that could get mobilized enough to get rid of Davis. (the Dems sure as heck were going to stand by their man, despite what he does/did).

And Issa is right, too. If McClintock or Arnie don't get out of the race, Bustamante is a shoo-in. And things will get MUCH worse here in California.

[Dan]

Gray Davis is unfit for office, and the majority of Californians (including around half of the Democrats) think so.

I suspect Issa just feels that Bustamante would be even worse than Davis -- an understandable sentiment, given Bustamante's ties to racists, and his loopy price-control-based economic plans.

[ZAthras]

This is typical of California Republicans: get the snowball rolling downhill and then try to stop it later unless it rolls just the way they want.

It was utterly predictable that a recall would draw in more than one prominent Republican, and that any one prominent Democrat in the race would therefore have an advantage. As it happens one of the prominent Republicans actually knows something about state government; the other is counting on getting a lot of votes from young males who have never voted before and think "hasta la vista, baby" is a statement of political philosophy. So naturally it's the first guy who should drop out of the race.

Rep. Issa made this bed; he can lie in it. Look on the bright side -- the Democrat who actually got into the race is kind of a dope, and Californians still dislike Gray Davis. So a Republican might come out on top even if both McClintock and Schwarzenegger stay in the race. I don't think that will happen, but it might.

[joe]

Dan, most discourse about someone being unfit for office sets the bar higher than "I disagree with him on issues X, Y, and Z."

[joe]

I understand "costing your vote." People who feel as you do should vote against him in the next scheduled election.

But a recall should be reserved for the criminal, the negligent, and the insane.

BTW, if you actually think Cruz is a racist for belonging to the Latino version of Hillel, you're nuts.

[Anonymous]

Andy:

By "mobilized" I suppose you mean "bankrolled," which is what Issa did in funding the petition drive. At the time, he portrayed it as a high-minded campaign to remove Gray Davis because he was unfit for office. But in reality, it was an opportunistic ploy to capitalize on Gray's low approval ratings (note: unpopular does not = unfit) and ride the recall into the governor's chair himself. When the wheels fell off that personal scheme, he wept. Meanwhile, Republicans jumped on board not because Davis was really unfit and deserving recall -- but because it was a neat opportunity to overturn their ignominious defeat at the polls just months earlier. This cynical ploy was aided by many Dem and independent voters who signed the recall petition because they didn't like the soulless Davis. But as the election approaches, the momentum has stalled -- and they face the very real prospect of either losing the recall and being stuck still with Davis, or "winning" the recall and getting an even more liberal Dem in Bustamante. The horror! So Issa wants now to take a mulligan and say "never mind." The hypocrisy! All of these players -- Dems and Reps alike -- are proof of only one thing: Just how downmarket we've gone in attracting people to a life of public service.

[Anonymous]

I want to see if Issa gets to take all that money he spent off his federal taxes next year.

Otherwise, he's a sucker and must feel like an idiot.

[Steve]

Joe,

That's not what the recall is for. Recalls (in California and pretty much every state that has them) are for when voters change their minds. That's all it takes. The thing you're describing is "impeachment."

[thoreau]

I agree with Steve. Recalls are for whatever the voters want them to be for. Impeachment, removal of one politician by a group of other politicians, is reserved for criminal acts and whatnot (that "and whatnot" qualifier is to stave off those who want to jump all over me for not including their own pet reason).

Now, personally, as a voter in California, my threshold for recall is quite high. I'm not inclined to recall unless the case comes close to something meriting the impeachment process. But that's just my opinion. The other voters have their own thresholds, and when a majority of the voters agree that the politician in question has crossed the threshold then the politician is removed. It's how democracy works.

A year ago we had a recall against a county supervisor. The main complaints were that she did a bunch of liberal things that she promised to do during the campaign. It was quite clear that it was just a re-hashing of issues debated during the previous election, rather than a response to new events after the election. (Her opponents had some trumped-up claims about new malfeasance, but they didn't hold water.) So I voted no on recall, but at the next regular election I will almost certainly vote for her opponent.

In the case of Davis, the budget crisis got worse after his election, so the recall is arguably a response to more recent events. However, the 2 main contenders have nothing to offer. Bustamente is the status quo, and Arnold refuses to discuss any sort of detailed plan. Better the devil I know than the devil I don't know. I'm voting no on recall.

[Xrlq]

"I understand 'costing your vote.' People who feel as you do should vote against him in the next scheduled election."

Uggh. For the umpteenth time, you can't vote against someone in an election he can't run in. The last time anyone will be able to vote against Gray Davis is on October 7 of this year. If polls are any indication, the number of people who vote against him this time around will dwarf the 4,000,000- who voted for him last year.

[boifromtroy]

Here is my take, which I am posting on, like every weblog discussing this:

Think about scenarios for pushing "someone" out of the race... wouldn't it make sense to first try to give political cover for that person to withdraw and if not, then set up Issa to be able to lead the party in a come-to-Jesus moment for Schwarzenegger? He's laying the groundwork.

My prediction: Issa endorses Schwarzenegger soon and/or McClintock drops out after he gets his 15 minutes in the debate Wednesday.

[Don]

"But a recall should be reserved for the criminal, the negligent, and the insane."

But--the real question--where does it say that in Calis recall laws? It doesn't matter what YOU think the law should be. It's what the laws actually is, and the law doesn't put any such restrictions upon recalls.

[Don]

"BTW, if you actually think Cruz is a racist for belonging to the Latino version of Hillel, you're nuts."

Damn strait MEChA is racist. La Raza La Raza La Raza . . . can you image a non-hispanic white student organization that referred to themselves as The Race?

[Kevin Carson]

joe,

At the presidential level, I'd have impeached every one of the mofos since Jefferson for disagreeing with me on x, y or z.

[tzs]

Re: Issa re McClintock vs. Schwartznegger. It looks like the California republicans are again forming their most beloved figure: the circular firing squad.

Le plus ca change, c'est plus la meme....

[nm156]

I remember a Heinlein story where the new President told a Latino lobbyist that anyone shouting "viva la raza" had better mean the whole human race. Sigh

[Dan]

Dan, most discourse about someone being unfit for office sets the bar higher than "I disagree with him on issues X, Y, and Z."

I think "he has ties to racists and thinks 1930s-style centralized government control of the economy is a good idea" amounts to a little more than "disagreeing on the issues". He's morally repugnant and had no grasp of economic reality; that makes him a rotten choice for governor of a troubled state. 🙂

[Don]

The literal translation of "la raza" is "the race". Of course, most of those who use the term are Mestizos, and racism in any strict sense would be a pretty stupid belief for them.

The way in which the term is used suggests that the users look down upon America and non-hispanic Americans, and desire a return to a hispanic controlled South West. Frankly, it is a radical, hatefull, and devisive term. It is also applied with much more racism than the mixed Mestizo blood line would suggest is logical.

Oh, and I haven't seen much sign of the "La Raza" attitude in Mexico, or among illegal aliens crossing into the US (who I have often encountered). It is mostly confined to "Mexican-Americans" who grew up in the US, speak poor Spanish, and typically benifit from affermitive action & government aid at US colleges & universities.

[joe]

'The literal translation of "la raza" is "the race".' Yes, that's a called a transliteration. For example, the transliteration of the French sentence "I am hungry" is "I not have hunger not." That's why you don't use transliteration when trying to understand someone's meaning. Although it is often helpful to use it if you're trying to distort someone's meaning.

[joe]

er, "I am not hungry."

[Don]

The correct translation of "la raza" is "the race". That's the correct Spanish translation. The political meaning the members of La Raza ascribe to the term could be different, of course, but I'm sure they would be inclined to change that "meaning" as circumstances required.

[joe]

Alright, "Don" (clearly Spanish nobility), exactly what "race" is The Council of La Raza referring to? Last time I checked, Latino, Hispanic, and Chicano were not races.

[joe]

"Raza" doesn't translate directly as "Race." You're getting freaked out over a bad translation.

[Lloyd]

I've listened to Issa since his comments were reported and the story seems to be sexed up, perhaps by Issa himself in an effort to get McClintock's attention. Personally, I'm with NRO's John Miller who is vowing to wait 5 days for the results of tonight's debate and its aftermath before suggesting anyone resign. Is it that implausible that McClintock, who by the way also leads Bustamante in head to head polling, might impress enough or alternatively that Ahnuld might flop enough in tonight's "Superbowl" to fundamentally change the dynamics of this game theorists wet dream of an election/recall.

[translation]

It's clear that there's always a chance to mislead people with transliteration. By the way, Byble is the perfect example...