I just checked my voter registration, and it turns out I’m running for President in 2020.
OK, maybe not, but there’s such an avalanche of candidates right now, I’m not sure I’d notice if I was. And of course it’s great that we have such a deep bench to choose from. But every time another unfamiliar name declares, I can’t help being reminded of the infamous California recall election of 2003.
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After Gov. Gray Davis (D) was re-elected in 2002, San Diego Rep. Darrell Issa (R, obviously) spearheaded a campaign to recall Davis and hold a new election. (Issa started in life as a car alarm salesman, so being a pain is pretty much his brand.) Davis got blamed for the skyrocketing energy costs caused by deregulation, so the recall was ultimately successful.
There was no template for how to recall and replace a governor, so we wound up with no primaries to narrow it down, just a 2-part ballot: a yes/no on the recall, and then 135 candidates to choose from, including:
Cruz Bustamonte (Lt. Governor, and the party-approved Democrat on the ballot, in a united attempt to keep the office if the recall went through)
Arnold Scwarzenegger (the eventual winner, of course)
Gary Coleman (of Diff’rent Strokes fame)
Gallagher (a comedian whose act includes smashing watermelons with a sledgehammer)
Arianna Huffington (her ex-husband Michael Huffington publicly considered running, but ultimately endorsed Schwarzenegger)
Ned Fenton Roscoe from the “Smoker’s Rights Party”
Larry Flynt (yes, THAT Larry Flynt)
Warren Farrell (“Men’s rights” activist)
Kelly Kimball, whose “platform is beer”
….and a WHOLE lot more. Ironically, after sinking $1.6 million into making the recall happen, Darrell Issa backed out two days before the filing deadline, after Schwarzenegger stepped in.
Fortunately, at the national level, there’s a clear order of succession after a President and Vice President get impeached. (Oh, no reason that crossed my mind...no reason at all...)
On to Top Comments!
Highlighted by side pocket:
abib2002’s first dkos comment has a practical suggestion to help fight the school-to-prison pipeline.
Highlighted by librarianmom:
kurious lays out a timeline of Watergate and related Nixon scandals, with definite relevance today.
Top mojo, courtesy of mik:
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Top Pictures for yesterday, April 23rd 2019. Click any picture to be taken to the full comment or picture. Thank you jotter!
And thanks to brillig for un-borking the quilt for me tonight, when my technology curse kicked in worse than usual!