California Politics

Should the Dems Attempt to Recall Arnold?

Generally, I like what Joe Conason has to say. I may not always agree with him, but I still enjoy reading his journal. But I think he’s missing something here — this is a chance for Democrats to take the high road. The “fight fire with fire” approach is eventually going to lead to a political landscape where only radicals at the far ends of the political spectrums will vote. The average citizen won’t care anymore because the average citizen is a centrist.

Personally, I only care about what happened in California because of the effect it could have on the political system nationwide. I understand that the California constitution allows for a recall, but the voters in the state have to realize they have to live with their decisions. Of course, the recall was driven by republicans, but did you notice how many democrats lined up to become the next governor too? Sure, was Davis driving the state into the ground? Well, yeah, but you voted him governor, remember? Did he lie about everything during his campaign? Was he a really great actor, that you couldn’t tell that he wouldn’t work out?

I wish I could find it, but somewhere on the web (gee, that narrows it down) there was an opinion piece about how someone, either Republican or Democrat, has to break the cycle of political warfare. Someone needs to step above the fray of namecalling and mudslinging and tell the truth, and, more importantly live the truth. If the Democrats attempted another recall, that would give Arnold exactly four months to turn around the world’s fifth largest economy. Four months. There’s a reason why most elected officials have four year terms — to allow them the time to get things done. I don’t know if Arnold will turn California around, and really, I don’t care, but at least give him a fighting chance. Remember, you elected him.