Press Room: Press Release
Recall backers rip into Davis
The rhetoric is unleashed at a Newport rally of Republicans. The governor calls it a 'silly recall.'
Newport Beach—Saturday, July 5, 2003
Recall backers rip into Davis
By STEPHEN LYNCH
The Orange County Register
This weekend's box office blockbuster was "Terminator 3," but in Orange County the plot was pure "Total Recall."
Both Gov. Gray Davis and the Republicans who hope to remove him from office tossed cherry bombs about the state budget at each other on Friday, because nothing celebrates the birth of our nation like a debate over taxes. Of course, each side tarred the others as the redcoats.
Local Republican luminaries gathered in Newport Beach to celebrate collecting enough signatures to force a special election to recall Davis. The Independence Day analogies were thick, with each speaker calling for a revolution in Sacramento. The invitation was adorned with pictures of minutemen and accused Davis of "taxation without representation." All that was missing were the muskets and tea to toss into Newport Bay.
"We're upside down $38 billion," Buck Johns, the event's organizer, said of one set of estimates of the state's budget deficit. "How long we gonna wait?"
For his part, Davis, who spoke at a July 4 rally at the Los Alamitos Army Airfield, criticized government spending by his opponents. "When people realize this silly recall is going to cost them $30 million that is not budgeted, they'll be hopping mad," he said.
Those were the day's nicer comments. Most of the time, both sides were significantly less kind, tossing around terms like "idiotic," "arrogant" and "inept."
About 150 Republicans filed past a clutch of protesters into Johns' leafy Back Bay home, filling the tennis court with star-spangled shirts and straw hats. Orange County party vice chairwoman Jo Ellen Allen and her stuffed monkey Rumsfeld led the group in a benediction that asked God for a recall victory.
Rep. Dana Rohrbacher, R-Huntington Beach, wearing a red, white and blue lei, called Davis "the most aloof politician in the history of this state." Johns dubbed him "the wacko in Sacramento" and somehow made it rhyme.
The event, which raised $15,000 for the recall effort, was tagged as "not an endorsement of any particular candidate." But somehow ("spontaneously!" one campaign aide said with a wink) the stage was filled with signs for Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Vista, who has financed much of the recall effort.
Issa said backers have turned in 1 million signatures, about 100,000 more than required, and hoped to hand in a total of 1.3 million by July 16. He said the extra margin was to ensure that no one can argue about the results. "We cannot afford another Florida finish," Issa said.
After the legal limits for reviewing those submissions and organizing an election, Issa added that the recall election should take place Oct. 16.
"It is my goal to make (Davis') time in office miserable," Issa said. "You might think that's mean and vindictive ...."
The ladies down front, in the red and white shirts, stopped him short with a lusty "No!"
Issa admitted that the recall election would cost taxpayers $25-$30 million, but said that was a pittance compared to the deficits a new governor could fix. He held up a dollar bill, saying that was all the special election would cost each Californian.
"To make a $38 billion decision, most companies would spend a buck for every one of their employees," he said.
Recall supporters were buoyed by a Los Angeles Times poll, released Friday, showing that a slim majority of Californians support the removal of Davis. Of 1,412 adults polled (1,127 of them registered voters), 51 percent said the governor should go.
But the dark cloud in that silver lining was that the respondents' favorite replacement, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, is a Democrat.
Issa, in statements that surprised some of his Republican brethren, said it didn't matter who was elected - so long as Davis was out of office.
"It doesn't matter the party, it matters the person," he said. "This is not a partisan fight."
Johns saw the matter differently, however. "I cannot imagine voters taking Gray Davis out and putting another person from the same group in," he said.
Davis, meanwhile, shrugged off questions about the recall, saying only that Issa was being irresponsible with state money. His appearance at Los Alamitos lasted only a couple of minutes, with Davis reading a paragraph about the sacrifices of our nation's military and then pinning a Medal of Merit on Specialist James S. Nolan of the Army National Guard. Davis was off the stage before most people had straightened their blankets for the fireworks.
The attitude of many Democrats, Davis included, is that the Republicans will only hurt themselves in the recall effort.
"Republicans didn't support Gov. Davis last year, they don't support him this year, they won't support him next year," said Bob Mulholland, a Davis campaign adviser. "The whole issue is how much blood is going to be spilled in that circle of Republicans as they point shotguns at each other. We'll work with each of them to discredit the other ones."
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CONTACT US: (714) 796-2298 or slynch@ocregister.com
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Recall backers rip into Davis
The rhetoric is unleashed at a Newport rally of Republicans. The governor calls it a 'silly recall.'
Newport Beach—Saturday, July 5, 2003
Recall backers rip into Davis
By STEPHEN LYNCH
The Orange County Register
This weekend's box office blockbuster was "Terminator 3," but in Orange County the plot was pure "Total Recall."
Both Gov. Gray Davis and the Republicans who hope to remove him from office tossed cherry bombs about the state budget at each other on Friday, because nothing celebrates the birth of our nation like a debate over taxes. Of course, each side tarred the others as the redcoats.
Local Republican luminaries gathered in Newport Beach to celebrate collecting enough signatures to force a special election to recall Davis. The Independence Day analogies were thick, with each speaker calling for a revolution in Sacramento. The invitation was adorned with pictures of minutemen and accused Davis of "taxation without representation." All that was missing were the muskets and tea to toss into Newport Bay.
"We're upside down $38 billion," Buck Johns, the event's organizer, said of one set of estimates of the state's budget deficit. "How long we gonna wait?"
For his part, Davis, who spoke at a July 4 rally at the Los Alamitos Army Airfield, criticized government spending by his opponents. "When people realize this silly recall is going to cost them $30 million that is not budgeted, they'll be hopping mad," he said.
Those were the day's nicer comments. Most of the time, both sides were significantly less kind, tossing around terms like "idiotic," "arrogant" and "inept."
About 150 Republicans filed past a clutch of protesters into Johns' leafy Back Bay home, filling the tennis court with star-spangled shirts and straw hats. Orange County party vice chairwoman Jo Ellen Allen and her stuffed monkey Rumsfeld led the group in a benediction that asked God for a recall victory.
Rep. Dana Rohrbacher, R-Huntington Beach, wearing a red, white and blue lei, called Davis "the most aloof politician in the history of this state." Johns dubbed him "the wacko in Sacramento" and somehow made it rhyme.
The event, which raised $15,000 for the recall effort, was tagged as "not an endorsement of any particular candidate." But somehow ("spontaneously!" one campaign aide said with a wink) the stage was filled with signs for Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Vista, who has financed much of the recall effort.
Issa said backers have turned in 1 million signatures, about 100,000 more than required, and hoped to hand in a total of 1.3 million by July 16. He said the extra margin was to ensure that no one can argue about the results. "We cannot afford another Florida finish," Issa said.
After the legal limits for reviewing those submissions and organizing an election, Issa added that the recall election should take place Oct. 16.
"It is my goal to make (Davis') time in office miserable," Issa said. "You might think that's mean and vindictive ...."
The ladies down front, in the red and white shirts, stopped him short with a lusty "No!"
Issa admitted that the recall election would cost taxpayers $25-$30 million, but said that was a pittance compared to the deficits a new governor could fix. He held up a dollar bill, saying that was all the special election would cost each Californian.
"To make a $38 billion decision, most companies would spend a buck for every one of their employees," he said.
Recall supporters were buoyed by a Los Angeles Times poll, released Friday, showing that a slim majority of Californians support the removal of Davis. Of 1,412 adults polled (1,127 of them registered voters), 51 percent said the governor should go.
But the dark cloud in that silver lining was that the respondents' favorite replacement, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, is a Democrat.
Issa, in statements that surprised some of his Republican brethren, said it didn't matter who was elected - so long as Davis was out of office.
"It doesn't matter the party, it matters the person," he said. "This is not a partisan fight."
Johns saw the matter differently, however. "I cannot imagine voters taking Gray Davis out and putting another person from the same group in," he said.
Davis, meanwhile, shrugged off questions about the recall, saying only that Issa was being irresponsible with state money. His appearance at Los Alamitos lasted only a couple of minutes, with Davis reading a paragraph about the sacrifices of our nation's military and then pinning a Medal of Merit on Specialist James S. Nolan of the Army National Guard. Davis was off the stage before most people had straightened their blankets for the fireworks.
The attitude of many Democrats, Davis included, is that the Republicans will only hurt themselves in the recall effort.
"Republicans didn't support Gov. Davis last year, they don't support him this year, they won't support him next year," said Bob Mulholland, a Davis campaign adviser. "The whole issue is how much blood is going to be spilled in that circle of Republicans as they point shotguns at each other. We'll work with each of them to discredit the other ones."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
CONTACT US: (714) 796-2298 or slynch@ocregister.com
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