Arianna lost my respect today.....

[shance]

I have watched Arianna since the Republican years, and have been inspired by her changes and heartened by her move to the left and her tenacity to fight the Republican and corporate machine.

Today, I heard that she is now adding her name into the kitty to run for the California governorship.

And before today I would have loved to see her run at an appropriate time, which of course is when the actual election is appropriately scheduled, and not at a time that monopolizes on a situation created by a Republican who knew that other opportunistic individuals would take the bait, thus strengthening his chances to become another illegitimate Republican in a powerful position that will wreak further havock, this time on my home state.

Before today, I would have liked to see Arianna take a position in government. I agree with everything she says and she is incredibly bright and has great ideas for the direction we should be moving.

What nags at me is the question of principle versus power.

Arianna I would imagine is surrounded by individuals who support her and agree with her run for govenor. I wonder if anyone has mentioned to her how this will further threaten our California governorship and could ensure us a Republican in this bogus recall?

Im sure she has to be aware her candidacy will now potentially and probably divide the Democratic vote, because how many Progressives and Independents will vote in this recall? Well, we can look at history, and that does not bode well.

I can tell you who will however.

Republicans of course. They will be out in force. They want this governorship and so does the Bush Administration.

I think the most important thing for Dems to remember is this:

THIS HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH GRAY DAVIS (although if you look at his record, he has been a pretty good and decent governor).

What this DOES INVOLVE IS A SEIZURE on the Governorship here in California.

Ego is always an amazing thing and some individuals with a great message, ie. Ralph Nader, have shown us how, when push comes to shove, whats more important is power to them.

It looks as though Arianna has taken the bait and thinks she can win. She possibly could, but again, THAT IS NOT THE POINT. The point is, what does she stand for? She has said she thinks the recall is wrong, so now shes going to take advantage of it?

She mentioned well its going to happen anyway, so I guess that means to her that the genie is out of the bottle so Im going to join the fun anyway.

What she has forgotten is the greatest gift a true leader embues, reason and humility.

If she would step back and look at the odds of the negative outcome, versus allowing oneself to become caught up in emotion and the dizzy excitement of having attention thrown to her, she would look at the risk she brings to sacredness of the governorship and California.

This is a probably a trite comparison, but I remember when I was a kid and one Halloween there was a friend of mine who, as we were running to the next house dropped her bag and all the candy went flying everywhere, and what happened next was pretty interesting and anger inducing to watch. At first most everyone stopped and I and a few others began helping, but then sure enough a few began grabbing her candy and running off, and then a few more kind of awkwardly joined in the "fun" and laughing and taking more of my friends "goods", oblivious to how it would effect her and oblivious to anything but the next door to knock on.

My point is we all get tempted, and the Governorship is a big temptation, but the bottom line is there is no principle in taking advantage of an opportunity that is harmful and destructive, which of course the recall is both.

Ultimately, a real leader will delay their gratification and do whatever is in the highest good for everybody.

I believe principled people have to know where they stand, and have to look at the big picture. And as much as I have greatly appreciated and admired what Arianna has done and her role in enlightening many Americans on what is happening in our country, this decision was very telling to me.

It was to me an indicator that she has lost sight of the overall best interest of standing behind what is right, and not allowing the chaos of this recall to sway our judgement. She has mentioned that this recall is in fact why she is running, but if that is so, why is joining in on the fun and grabbing the candy?

Arianna cannot have it both ways, and in the end, the issue of loyalty and the highest interest of California will always be there, no matter who wins, and when anyone succumbs to power, instead of looking at the best interest of all, to me, they betray the entire message, not to mention the entire point.

[JasonBerry]

1. You have it wrong

Arianna could only be elected if Davis, was, in fact -- recalled.

There are TWO questions on the ballot. The yes/no for the recall (which she opposes) and then the "Who do you want to replace the Governor with" question. The "divide the vote" argument the Davis people are using just doesn't make sense in this scenario.

See:
http://runariannarun.com/article.php?id=15#q2

[shance]

3. So are you saying it is an "either or" situation?

Where it is either Arianna or Gray?

[Terwilliger]

9. no, nothing like that at all

the voters will vote on whether or not the governor should be recalled....THEN they'll vote on a replacement if the recall goes through. There are like 10 people currently running for governor, while possibly 200 or more will end up on the ballot. Arianna's running simply adds to the fray.

[KellyW]

5. One anti-recall group

Is trying to get 1000 people to run. It is a kind of denial-of-service attack. There is no way the election equipment can handle that. I have only seen one story about this but it seems like it would work.

[redeye]

2. Arianna won't split the progressive vote

Camejo will drop if that's needed to ensure her victory, and there's no progressvie in the race other than those two.

[shance]

6. This is where Im confused, so Arianna will NOT run against Gray?

Is that what you are saying? If so, then I am wrong. And I hope that I am.

[redeye]

15. See above ^^^

She can only run in the replacement, whereas Davis can only run in the recall (the actual election is composed of two parts: recall, i.e. whether Davis should be recalled, and replacement, i.e. who should replace Davis should he be recalled).

[Az]

4. This vote is going to blow up

There are already enough people signed up as candidates that its going to throw the entire process into the ringer. They have a limit of about 300 spots that can have votes tallied on the voting card. There are already more than 300 people signed up for the election. There is a web site telling people how they can sign up to be governor. Its gonna be sheer chaos.

[Jalixm]

7. unless davis gets his wish,

and gets his name added as a possible replacement for himself, Arianna won't be drawing votes away from him. on the offchance that he is recalled democrats need an alternative to the GOP. You can vote NO to the recall but still vote for Huffington as a potential replacement. I can see no problem with this. It is essential for the party to have recourse of some sort on the ballot, be it Arianna, Feinstein, or even Flynt. Of course, if Gray does get put as a replacement I agree with you completely and I think Huffington and other democrats should and probably will drop out.

[Terwilliger]

11. Davis cannot run as a candidate to replace himself

seems to be a logic thing ;-)

[JasonBerry]

12. Right!

You are absolutely correct. Davis won't be able to legally be listed as a replacement for himself. BUT, if by some weird thing and he DOES get that wish - then obviously, it would be a different deal entirely.

[shance]

13. Once the momentum gets going and the egos get more invested,

I bet nobody who has a chance will drop out.

I Arianna said she will work to have this provision eliminated in the California legislature, which in essence would make her a hypocrite then because she would have in fact been elected governor BECAUSE of this stupid provision.

[oasis]

8. She's aware of the Enron implications and of the unfair results.

My guess is she will stump up and down the state getting national news coverage and throwing a spotlight on the corporate corruption that put California in a budget crisis.

Days before the election she may call a news conference to bash Bush, FERC and Enron, then pull out.

[JackSwift]

10. When people see dozens upon dozens of names

They may vote for Gray Davis. If even a third of the people who took out papers get the 65 signatures, it will be really ugly.

[shance]

14. But the point remains, I believe Californians, namely Dems need to look

at the most important issue, and it is not being opportunity at the expense of what is right and ultimately should be held sacred, that IN FACT, Gray Davis won fair and square. Thats what disturbs me and that is where Democrats have serious ADD in the fact that they cannot keep the real issue at hand, thus we lose our strength in promoting unity, by standing by the governor, who won.

Republicans win once again, because of our lack of discipline.

I also realize that Arianna is an independent, but she has also verbalized she realizes the wrongness of the recall and yet seems fully willing to monopolize on the opportunity, thus creating more division within an already vulnerable progressive movement. In short, timing is everything, and this AINT THE TIME to be running.

[dfong63]

16. i disagree

Gray Davis's strategy is selfish, stupid, and potentially disastrous. don't blame Arianna or anyone else who isn't dumb enough to blindly march off the cliff with him. in fact, i say three cheers for Arianna. she's giving people a choice. we need someone we can vote for in part 2 of the ballot, even if we vote "no" in part 1.

wishful thinking isn't going to stop part 1 from passing. progressives absolutely do need a fallback position.

[Mairead]

17. "Sacredness" of the governorship?? Please, get a grip -- it's a *job*

nothing more.