California's Recall Election: What Democracy is All About

August during an off-year election cycle is usually the ultimate political dead zone when press sources must find something - anything - to fill their pages and air time. August 2003 is proving to be an exception to that mid-summer dullness.

The origins of the end of the dullness trace to 1998 when California voters elected an admittedly dull man as their Governor. Things went from status quo to bad to very bad for the Golden State in a very short time. First came the energy crises. Then came the big budget deficits. Then came the 2002 election cycle. Now comes an election to recall one of the winners of that 2002 cycle.

Without belaboring how the state got to the dismal condition - in particular the dismal financial condition - in which California now finds itself, and without assigning any unilateral blame, all the misery may lead to a triumphant result.

What triumph, you wonder, can be found in a thirty-eight billion dollar budget deficit in the world's fifth largest economy? While that aspect of itself is very bleak, the triumph emerges from the voter activism that situation has produced. Yes, the campaign to recall the Governor was funded primarily by one member of Congress who has since withdrawn his name from the list of prospective successors. Yes, more than simply the Governor are to blame for California's problems. Yes, the next Governor will have his/her share of urgent issues to address. And no, there are no instant cures. But the amazing facet is that the voters have commenced the process to end the days of rhetoric and indolence.

The act of recalling the Governor of the most populous state in the US cannot be accomplished only at the whem of deep pockets and special interest groups. That process also requires the signatures of millions of people as part of a well coordinated petition effort. It requires a widespread sentament that the wrong hands are on the levers of power. It requires a willingness to take that sentament of dissatisfaction from the casual complaints level to the "power to the people" level. At its essence, a successful recall campaign of this magnitude is nothing less than the vibrance of the democratic process asserting itself to assure its adherants that its basic principles continue to thrive.

Then why was the soon-to-be-recalled Governor elected to a second term only nine months ago? The full answer to that simple question would require many paragraphs on many pages. A partial answer would be something like this: The margin of victory for the Governor at the 2002 election was quite narrow and surprised some observers - even in California. The result was as if the voters collectively said: "We really don't like the incumbent, but if we elect his opponent, it will look as if the office of Governor can be bought rather than won, and we don't want that image. So we will re-elect the guy we know we dislike because we dislike him less than we dislike his opponent". Hence the result.

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