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The hunt for recall signatures ``Shame on Gray Davis for slashing our schools: Sign the official recall here.'' ``It's time to get Gray Davis outta there -- are you in favor of that?'' ``There's only one person we could put in there who would be worse and that's the devil himself.'' It works again and again, bringing the attempt to oust Davis from the governor's office one signature closer to reality every time. If this irreverent initiative makes history as the first recall of a California governor to make the ballot, San Diego County will be able to stake its claim as its birthplace. The county is providing the campaign with the two ingredients it needs to get enough signatures: money and manpower. First came the money: $800,000 so far from Rep. Darrell Issa, the Vista Republican who has single-handedly provided the cash the effort needs to avert the fate of all 31 previous failed attempts to recall a California governor. Issa's cash has allowed organizers to hire dozens of professional signature gatherers like Piper who say they are poised to turn in enough names to place the governor's fate in the hands of voters this fall. Halfway there On Monday, campaign officials said they have turned in 450,000 signatures to election officials, with almost one-fifth coming from San Diego County. Issa continues to pump in money to fuel the frenetic effort to turn in 1.2 million signatures by mid-July to ensure they have far more than the 900,000 valid names they need to put the issue on the ballot. That is making the sidewalks of San Diego and a handful of other key counties unique political battlegrounds. In a gambit that has slowed the drive and confused voters, Davis supporters have hit the streets with their own petition opposing the recall. ``It's the ultimate in retail politics,'' said Steve Smith, the Davis administration official who is taking time off to lead the campaign to derail the recall. ``They have to convince 1.2 million voters to sign, and we're trying to convince those very same people not to sign. ``It's eminently one-on-one politics and I find it sort of an anomaly. California politics is largely a media war, and this is an exception to that rule.'' At every turn, Davis and his allies have tried to throw roadblocks in front of the recall. First, Davis backers hired two of California's leading signature-gathering firms. In response, the recall campaign enticed Tom Bader, a veteran of initiative drives who left the state 17 years ago, to come back to set up their street operation. Then the anti-recall side began paying signature gatherers a quarter more per name on a petition that never mentions Davis, and does nothing more than gauge voter opposition to the drive to dump the governor. Piper, who was making a dollar a name over the weekend, hasn't been swayed. He has worked on dozens of liberal and conservative ballot measures since Proposition 13 -- but this one is personal. ``Even if I wasn't getting paid I'd be working on this because I want him out,'' he said. Like many voters, Piper blames Davis for leading the state into fiscal turmoil and rejects the Democratic governor's contention that the entire nation is in trouble. ``Why should there be a deficit to begin with in one of the most prosperous states in the union?'' said the 45-year old, who is studying to be a radiologist.
Piper's pitch is slick and effective. In this conservative part of San Diego County, it doesn't take much to get
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