To the Editor:
In his Sept. 30 column, "Total Recall," Andrew Hanauer '04 provides the best synopsis that I have seen to date of the charade that is currently occurring here in California.
Unfortunately, unlike Mr. Hanauer, I feel that a large portion of Californians are awed by Arnold's celebrity status, and have not taken the time to see that there are roughly 134 more qualified candidates on the recall ballot (there are 135 total as of last count). Arnold has repeatedly declined to debate the issues, with the exception of one debate where the questions were given to the candidates beforehand. His commercials and speeches are long on soundbites and short on substance. Supporting Arnold is like supporting his movie star persona: he seems like a cool dude on the big screen, but what's he really like at the end of the day when the cameras stop rolling? Nonetheless, he looks better in a swimsuit than Davis, and this in California is, of course, reason enough to recall a governor.
But enough about Arnold. This whole recall would not have occurred in the first place were it not for the "generosity" of Darrell Issa, a multimillionaire Republican congressman who dreamed of running this state, and bankrolled this effort as a means of pursuing his fantasies. When he realized that, with Arnold in the race, he had no chance of winning, Issa -- and this is no joke -- cried as he stepped off the long list of recall wannabes. OK, no waterworks, but he definitely got choked up and couldn't speak for a few seconds. He has since revealed the purely partisan nature of his goals, waffling between supporting and opposing the recall that he funded based on whether or not he thinks that a Republican (namely Schwarzenegger) can win.
Sure, I think Davis is not exactly a great governor or a great guy. I probably wouldn't have voted for him had I lived in California last year. But, unlike some other politicians that I know, his election was undeniably fair and uncontroversial, so apparently millions of Californians did decide to re-elect him less than a year ago (after already serving the state for 4 years). To blame him for all of California's woes now would be to ignore the clear implications of a national economic downturn that is far beyond his control. Go ahead and give him his fair share of the blame, though.
I can only hope that there are more Californians like Mr. Hanauer who take the time to evaluate each of the major candidates in this recall election (there are only about 5 who poll above 1 percent) whether or not this is a good idea in the first place ... or at least to watch that funny cartoon about Arnold's Hummer that's been circulating around the web. Otherwise, it seems inevitable that Terminator 4 will be coming to a statehouse near me very soon ... and we haven't even been able to see the trailers to decide if this one's worth watching.
