The California recall election is tomorrow and everyone should pay close attention, because the recalls have just begun.
I voted for Gray Davis to serve a four-year term as governor of California. Today, he is being recalled because he has been deemed unfit to serve as governor by one million plus signees of a recall initiative.
I admit he did not do a good job in his first term -- a large budget surplus was eventually turned into a deficit for several reasons:
1. We spent more money than we had.
2. The money we thought we had from the Internet technology industry went bust.
3. California was ripped off and overcharged by between $3 and $8 billion in energy costs by companies like Enron and Dynergy.
4. We voters of California have supported state initiatives that tell the state where to spend the money, and we want to do so while paying fewer taxes.
5. California, like every other state in the union, is forced to pay the lion's share of the Bush administration's two major policy initiatives -- the Homeland Security Act and the No Child Left Behind Act.
But Davis is not the source of California's problems, and recalling him is certainly not the solution.
The little that the recall will accomplish is further complicating a delicate economic and political situation in the nation's largest state. Davis, while being a governor with no charisma and little confidence to instill in a state of nearly 40 million residents, is a better answer than this motley crue of candidates that has turned its many opportunities to debate and campaign into a stream of meaningless sound bites.
So what are the candidates doing to prove their muster?
There are three major contenders for the race: Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante, State Sen. Tom McClintock and actor Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Bustamante has marketed himself as a Democratic alternative to Davis who will fix the budget crisis by raising taxes on tobacco, alcohol and the wealthiest Californians. McClintock is campaigning as the tax-cut candidate, planning to cut state spending and reign in the California budget by cutting programs -- which ones we don't know. Schwarzenegger, the media darling and favorite of movie-goers masquerading as voters, is running as the outsider candidate who will take no special interest money and will fix the California budget by "terminating" the competition.
The candidates have been given the opportunity to prove why Governor Davis should be recalled, campaigning across the state and debating (in some cases) to separate themselves from the pack. But few ideas are emerging from the candidates. Most of what has come out of the debating and campaigning has been meaningless sound bites. Language like "tough love," "terminate" and "hasta la vista" have been the most memorable ideas presented by this group.
Each candidate plays the "outsider" card, saying they are not beholden to the Sacramento political culture. However, Bustamante and McClintock have made their careers in state politics and have taken large amounts of unregulated campaign contributions. Schwarzenegger, who is the man who will not be bought and will terminate the Sacramento "cronyism," has outpaced all candidates by raising nearly $20 million in special interest money, and his entire campaign is staffed by regulars from former Gov. Pete Wilson's staff.
Davis, elected twice to four-year terms in 1998 and in 2002, could be the first American politician constitutionally elected to serve a term in office that was removed from office even though he has not committed a criminal act and has not suffered from health problems. This proves to be the greatest dilemma of them all, one that could have repercussions beyond the major budget problems that face California.
We are living in a time when states are facing the worst budget crisis they have seen since the Great Depression, while the federal government does nothing to help the ailing states take up the burden of educating our children and protecting our national security. The Bush administration is cutting federal income and business taxes while asking the people to pay billions of dollars to rebuild Iraq and the states to pay for the bulk of national security costs.
All this being said, Gray Davis has done a mediocre job at best as governor of California. He has not revolutionized the system and he has served as CEO of the nation's largest state while it is facing the largest budget deficit in its history. The blame for this budget deficit can be given partially to Davis and partially to other Sacramento politicians, but few of us could have the foresight to see the circumstances that could lead up to this budget crisis.
How will politicians be able to govern if they are recalled from four-year terms after only one year? What would have happened if Kennedy were recalled just before the Cuban Missile Crisis or George W. were recalled just before 9/11? How will the government be able to govern?
As they say, be careful what you wish for -- you may get it.
Nicolas Rodriquez is a senior Political Science major from Sanger, Calif. and spokesman for the Latino Coalition.
