Abstract

Total Recall

The author comments on the results of the California recall election. The people of California have spoken. And by shouting out the two words" Governor Schwarzenegger" they have set off one more political earthquake, whose vibrations are sure to be felt from Sacramento to Washington, DC. Turning out in much higher numbers than for last fall's general election, a double-digit majority voted to yank Gray Davis from the Statehouse and replace him with the Austrian-born Terminator. For two decades, the dour Davis built a successful political career by making himself a bit less unpalatable than the other guy -- until now. The energy crisis, a black hole budget deficit, a tripling of the car tax, education cuts, 30-40 percent tuition hikes and a money-for-influence ethic that showcased political back scratching rather than leadership drove Davis's popularity ratings down into the Yeltsin-like mid-20s. Too many liberal and progressive activists misjudged the recall revolt and wound up on the wrong side of a populist tsunami. Instead of validating the raw voter anger and deep dissatisfaction that fueled the anti-Davis backlash, they discounted the recall as an illegitimate GOP "power grab." Democrats have to ask themselves how it's possible that the Republican Schwarzenegger was able to claim the populist mantle of slayer of special interests. With all his obvious flaws and hypocrisies, Arnold Schwarzenegger just looked better, and cleaner.