California on leading edge of new form of political warfare

[villager]

Analysis | California on leading edge of new form of political warfare
By DICK POLMAN

Philadelphia Inquirer

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - People out here love to try new things. They put an actor on the road to the White House, launched Trader Joe's and the hula hoop, triggered a national tax-cut movement, and gave us the Grateful Dead.

And now they are at it again. They seem poised to treat their own governor like a defective factory product. They reelected Democrat Gray Davis to a second term in November, but now, with the help of a 92-year-old "recall" clause in the state constitution, they may soon decide to yank him by his perfectly sculpted hair and cast him from the governor's chair.

It's a bold idea. No state has ousted a leader in midstream since North Dakota in 1921; it is not legal in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, or 30 other states - and it's popular here. California is wallowing in $38 billion of red ink - the biggest state deficit in the nation's history - and Davis cannot staunch the flow, in part because he is so disliked. A maestro of negative campaigning, he has attacked the Republicans so strongly in the past that they will not deal with him now. They financed the petition drive for the recall, but polls indicate that one-third of the state's Democrats want Davis gone.

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Anyone with 65 signatures and $3,500 can get on the ballot, which means that any number of Republicans may run though the state GOP is notoriously incapable of unity. It also means that the next governor of the state with the world's fifth-largest economy could be swept into office with, say, 25 percent of the vote. This unnerves Wall Street, where there is talk of downgrading the state's credit rating.

Democratic strategist Philip Muller lamented: "We are entering the ugliest chapter in California history, at least since we killed off the Indians." And Carroll Wills, who works for the state firefighters but speaks for the Davis team, predicted: "California is now on the leading edge of a whole new form of political warfare."

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http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/6285509.htm

[ThorsteinVeblen]

1. What the fuck????

"A maestro of negative campaigning, he has attacked the Republicans so strongly in the past that they will not deal with him now."

Why don't we have this kind of unity and gumption on the part of Senate and House Democrats when it comes to Bush.

One reason: Becase the Democratic Party is shit and full of asshole cowards who have sold out the American people for money. Fuck you DLC. Fuck you Gephardt. Fuck you McAuliffe. Fuck you Lieberman. Fuck you Daschle. Fuck you Kerry. Fuck you Edwards.

[billbuckhead]

2. Gray Davis isn't as bad as the image.

Every major Dem leader is ruthlessly, relentlessly and despicably attacked, right to the cutting edge of the law, with money from crooked energy comapnies for the most part. What was the Clinton impeachment? The massive media assault on Al Gore? The demonization of Tom "Puff" Daschle? Wellstone? Anthrax?, etc and etc.

[ThorsteinVeblen]

3. And still they don't fight back.

Delay has effectively eliminated all but Republican lobbists and still the Democrats whine and whimper and lick Republican ass.

They need to stand up and fillibuster every single piece of goddamn leglislation in the pike, they need to refuse to work AT ALL with ANY Republicans whatsoever, espeically the administration. They need to prevent a quorom from meeting in the house. They need to declare nuclear warfare - NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!