ON NOT LETTING THE PERFECT BE THE ENEMY OF THE GOOD

Recall Roundup (Dotty Lynch, Douglas Kiker and Steve
Chaggaris, June 12, 2003, CBS News)

There's bad news on the polling and signature front for embattled California Gov. Gray Davis, who's facing an effort by political
opponents to gather enough signatures to trigger a special recall election.

The San Francisco Chronicle reports that almost half of California voters want Davis removed from office in a prospective recall election. The statewide poll, conducted by the Public Policy Institute of California, showed 48 percent of Californians would vote to remove him, while 41 percent said they'd continue to support him. Among likely voters, Davis' numbers are just as bad, with 51 percent saying they'd vote against him and 43 percent backing him.

Meanwhile, Reuters reports that recall organizers are claiming they have 600,000 to 700,000 signatures – quickly approaching the 900,000 needed to trigger a recall vote. The organizers must gather the signatures by Sept. 2 to trigger the special election, which could take place as early as this fall or as late as March 2004, depending on when (and if) the recall signatures are submitted.

A number of folks seem concerned that Arnold Schwarzenegger is too liberal--including being pro-abortion--to warrant conservative support if he runs for Governor of California. Imagine for a moment that you've been marooned on a desert island (Tom Hanks in Castaway will do for a mental image). After a nearly unbearable number of lonely years fantasizing about the world's most desirable women (Maureen O'Hara, Donna Reed, Jean Arthur, Margaret Thatcher, etc.), a shipwrecked second-tier option, say Daisy Fuentes or Patricia Heaton, washes ashore. Does one say: "can't talk now; I'm waiting for the Iron Lady?" We think not.

Well, it would be great if the Golden State were still the kind of place that would elect Ronald Reagan, but it isn't. The Terminator might not be our dream candidate, but if he can win and get people to take the moribund GOP of California seriously again, more power to him.

MORE:
Total Recall--II (John Fund, OpinionJournal, 6/12/2003)

The Terminator mentioned the recall only indirectly, however. "This is really embarrassing. I just forgot our state governor's name, but I know that you will help me recall him."

Posted by Orrin Judd at June 12, 2003 2:20 PM