I don't entirely get it. But here are some thoughts ...
Governor Davis made Al Gore look exciting. Davis comes across as a lifeless bureaucrat, and never had high positives. He worked his way up the political food chain in the California Democratic party, was good at fundraising, and was excellent at the playing the attack game. For example, Davis' campaign was one of the highest money spenders in the 2002 Republican gubernatorial primary. Davis took out Riordon, a moderate Republican, in the primary leaving Simon, a favorite son of the conservative wing. The 2002 general election wasn't about who you liked. It was about the lesser of two evils. I blame the Democratic party for failing to find and groom good candidates for leadership positions. Bustamante is no prize either.
The energy crisis created a lot of ire in California. Californians should be pissed at Enron, Duke and El Paso first and foremost. Intially Davis had a deer-in-the-headlights sort of reaction that later made him a target of anger. Davis tried to blame FERC and Bush, who did in fact stand aside as spectators rather than fulfilling their statutory duties. But the charges didn't stick.
The car tax issue was a big negative for Davis. In a state of car-holics, don't fuck with the car tax. The property tax on cars was cut by a factor of 3 as a rebate during the fat years with the idea that it would be restored in lean years. Davis took the fiscally responsible act of restoring the car tax to its previous level, but failed to properly frame the issue. This "tax hike" pissed people off to no end.
Arnold's fame, the short election cycle, the fact that recall and replacement were on the same ballot, and the lack of a primary all worked in Arnold's favor. Normally Arnold would not have survived a Republican primary. The Republicans in California tend to be both fiscal and social conservatives. Arnold's gangbang and grab-ass lifestyle would have doomed him in the primaries. (Especially with Democrats kibbitzing in the Republican primary campaign.) In general, the short fuse gave inadequate time for vetting and gave room for charges of "last minute smears" when vetting did occur.
Ultimately, the Democrats failed by failing to acknowledge that Davis was doomed. Perhaps Davis could have just resigned, giving the office to Bustamante. That would have been a nice dodge. Or they could have twisted Feinstein's arm to get her to run. She could have consolidated the base in a way that Davis and Bustamante failed to.
I'm confident that we'll rewrite the flawed recall law just like we abolished the electoral college after the 2000 election. Oh, right.
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Governor Davis made Al Gore look exciting. Davis comes across as a lifeless bureaucrat, and never had high positives. He worked his way up the political food chain in the California Democratic party, was good at fundraising, and was excellent at the playing the attack game. For example, Davis' campaign was one of the highest money spenders in the 2002 Republican gubernatorial primary. Davis took out Riordon, a moderate Republican, in the primary leaving Simon, a favorite son of the conservative wing. The 2002 general election wasn't about who you liked. It was about the lesser of two evils. I blame the Democratic party for failing to find and groom good candidates for leadership positions. Bustamante is no prize either.
The energy crisis created a lot of ire in California. Californians should be pissed at Enron, Duke and El Paso first and foremost. Intially Davis had a deer-in-the-headlights sort of reaction that later made him a target of anger. Davis tried to blame FERC and Bush, who did in fact stand aside as spectators rather than fulfilling their statutory duties. But the charges didn't stick.
The car tax issue was a big negative for Davis. In a state of car-holics, don't fuck with the car tax. The property tax on cars was cut by a factor of 3 as a rebate during the fat years with the idea that it would be restored in lean years. Davis took the fiscally responsible act of restoring the car tax to its previous level, but failed to properly frame the issue. This "tax hike" pissed people off to no end.
Arnold's fame, the short election cycle, the fact that recall and replacement were on the same ballot, and the lack of a primary all worked in Arnold's favor. Normally Arnold would not have survived a Republican primary. The Republicans in California tend to be both fiscal and social conservatives. Arnold's gangbang and grab-ass lifestyle would have doomed him in the primaries. (Especially with Democrats kibbitzing in the Republican primary campaign.) In general, the short fuse gave inadequate time for vetting and gave room for charges of "last minute smears" when vetting did occur.
Ultimately, the Democrats failed by failing to acknowledge that Davis was doomed. Perhaps Davis could have just resigned, giving the office to Bustamante. That would have been a nice dodge. Or they could have twisted Feinstein's arm to get her to run. She could have consolidated the base in a way that Davis and Bustamante failed to.
I'm confident that we'll rewrite the flawed recall law just like we abolished the electoral college after the 2000 election. Oh, right.
- mark 10-09-2003 2:35 am