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Recall picks up steam Wefel said he has worked in Washington, Arizona, Michigan and New York gathering signatures for other political issues, and he's now confidently mastered California politics in two weeks. He knew even minor details about the state's budget debate and could run through the costs of recalls for anyone interested. "Reaction is pretty good," Wefel said. "Democrats don't want to see Democrats get recalled by Republicans who are pissed because they lost the election. You can boil it down to that. I used to say, 'Protect schoolteachers' jobs,' but that was too much explaining." "I've actually changed recall people's mind," Wefel continued. "What happened was the recall thing came out first and people got influenced by the rhetoric. There is another side to the story." But so far, the effort to oust Davis is outpacing any effort to tell his side of the story. The governor has only recently acknowledged the inevitable by assembling a team of political experts to fight the recall. SPECIAL ELECTION POSSIBLE So many signatures are being gathered, in fact, that a special election could be called. That would put Davis at a political disadvantage compared to consolidating the recall on the March Democratic primary ballot. If the threshold is reached by mid-July, well before the final Sept. 2 deadline, then a special recall vote is inevitable. With almost bloodless efficiency, the signatures keep piling up. "There isn't anything positive about him from anyone in my family," said Linda Schroeder, 55, who signed the recall petition. "I've got liberals (in my family). I've got conservatives. I've got middle of the road. He's just not cutting it for a lot of people."
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Recalling the governor Voters may be asked whether to recall Gov. Gray Davis in November and pick a new governor. Here's how the process would work: 1 Proponents have 160 days to deliver a petition alleging the official reason for recall to the Secretary of State. If enough signatures are gathered, an election to recall and replace the governor would take place within 180 days from the date of certification of the signatures. . 2 If such an election takes place, voters would be asked to respond "yes" or "no" to a question such as "Should Gray Davis be recalled as governor?" They would then be asked to pick a replacement in case the recall is successful. . 3 If voters do not approve the recall, Gray Davis remains in office. OR 3 If voters approve the recall, the candidate with the most votes wins. Source: California Constitution Chronicle Graphic
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 700,000: number of signaturesorganizers say they'vecollected 900,00: number of signaturesneeded to force arecall 200,000: number of signaturesDavis supports saythey've collected E-mail Robert Salladay at rsalladay@sfchronicle.com. |
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