Democratic Unity Behind Davis Unravels (Maxine Waters)

[kainah]

By ERICA WERNER, Associated Press Writer

LOS ANGELES - Democratic attempts to unite behind Gov. Gray Davis (news - web sites) in his Oct. 7 recall election unraveled further Saturday, as a congresswoman suggested that he step down if Sen. Dianne Feinstein (news, bio, voting record) becomes a candidate to replace him.


Rep. Maxine Waters (news, bio, voting record), D-Calif., told the San Jose Mercury News that having one Democratic candidate in the Oct. 7 recall election is crucial, but "we don't know" if it should be Davis.


"We have to be careful not to get divided and allow them to take California through this fluke recall election," Waters said of Republicans. "If (Sen.) Dianne Feinstein is talked into getting onto the ballot, I hope Gray Davis would step down."

snip...

Three other California congressional Democrats have urged Feinstein in recent days to run to replace Davis. The senator, who has said she does not intend to be a candidate, said she was flattered but declined further comment.


Sen. Barbara Boxer (news, bio, voting record) said she is strongly opposed to the recall, but is leaving her options open for encouraging a Democrat to run as a potential replacement.

more...

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=511&e=4&u=/ap/20030803/ap_on_el_gu/davis_recall

[Tom Kitten]

1. This Davis recall thing is totally Byzantine...

from what I've seen on how the ballots will look...What's wrong with a recall ballot that just says yes? no? and then let the Lt. governor take over until the replacement election occurs? But no, it seems they are purposefully trying to confuse the voters! Have any courts in CA decided on the wording of the ballot yet? And on what grounds have they decided to recall him for, anyways, other than unpopular? Can this be done on a national basis with Bush*?

[meti57b]

2. thanks for the update.

It's foolhardy for Dems to not run a back-up candidate. Keeping the governor's office in Democratic hands is what counts. Keeping some stability in California government is admittedly a higher value, but we arent the ones who are seeking to de-stabilize it.

[joeybee12]

4. MAxine Waters is a fool...

...just like Loretta Sanchez, et al. As soon as another democrat goes on the ballot, the election is over. The DUMB-o-crats will be playing defense and catch up--just what the Republicans want. You win by putting your opponents ont he defensive--it's the most basic rule of politics and Maxine and those other nitwits can't seem to grasp that!

Is there any hope for this pathetic party?????????????

[mndemocrat_29]

8. Waters and Sanchez are playing this smart

Davis is polling poorly and will probably lose the recall vote by somewhere around 54-46 percent. If there is a Democrat on the other side of the ballot picking up that 46 percent, then we are in the clear. There's no way Repukes can rally behind someone and receive more than that, not with Issa, Riordan, and Simon on the ballot. We need the California governorship for 2004. We have to beat Bush in 2004 and we have to have Boxer in the Senate. Having Issa, Riordan, or Simon in office will hurt us in 2004, it's that simple.

[Ediacara]

3. WAIT

If Davis resigns, wouldn't Cruz Bustamante become governor? How can the recall proceed if Davis steps down? The recall is FOR Davis, not for the party, right?

[joeybee12]

5. The whole thing is a mess...

It's really unclear what will happen. That's why the DUMB-o-crats need to just back Davis and get it over with. There's no Repuke running so far, even Arnold, who will get many votes.

As for Arnold, he's an idiot if he runs. If he loses, and the winner gets 15% of the vote, he'll never be taken seriously as a candiate again.

[Jack Rabbit]

12. It doesn't matter if a Republican gets fewer votes than Davis

In a recall election, no one is directly running against Davis. As far as Davis is concerned, the only important question is will he be removed from office, Yes or No. If the nuber of Yes votes exceeds the number of No votes, Davis is out.

If the recall question carries and each candidate running in the replacement election is a Republican, guess what? There will be a Republican sitting in the governor's office on October 8.

[Jack Rabbit]

6. Partly right

You're partly right. However, once the recall is validated and the date for the election set, it must be held.
If Davis resigns, Busamamte becomes acting governor until the election is held. If the recall question carries, Bustamante returns to his duties at Lt Governor and the replacement candidate with the most votes becomes Governor. If the recall question fails, Bustamante will remain Governor until the end of Davis' term.

Were Davis to resign, it would add a new dimension to the contest. A No vote on the recall would no longer mean that one wishes to retain Davis, but that Bustamate should continue. The No vote would still need 50% or more to carry.

[joeybee12]

7. It'll just go to the courts...

...and it will never end.

[Ediacara]

16. That's COMPLETELY absurd

If Davis resigns, WHY would the recall be for Bustamante? Davis is the one being recalled! This is completely idiotic!

[Jack Rabbit]

17. You misread my post

If Davis resigns, Bustamante becomes acting governor. A No vote on the recall therefore becomes a vote to allow Bustamante to continue. A Yes vote means that one of the replacement candidates should become governor.

There is something slightly absurd in that, but that is the way it works.

[Ediacara]

19. still though

It doesn't make sense to proceed with the recall if the focus of the recall (Davis) is out of the picture. One would think that Davis' resignation would negate the recall.

[pansypoo53219]

11. once the recall was activated

it wasn' possible for that.

WHY DO I KNOW THAT I LIVE IN WI???oy, gotta turn NPR off.

[fujiyama]

15. HaHa know how ya feel

I've been listening to NPR and browsing these websites a little too much to know more about the happenings of the California legislature than my own!

[jamesinca]

18. He needed to step down before the thing got this far

He now only has the option of riding the storm out. He is past tho point of no return. If he resigns then the election still happens. Bustamonte would be the interim gov. till the election. The results of the election decide who will be the next gov. It seems that the party here in CA is very split on this. Some say hold your ground, don't add validity to this thing, don't run another Dem. Others say we need a safety net. If Davis is recalled then we will be left with a repug gov. almost by default. If the Dems just put one name out there, be it Boxer or Feinstein, or Sanchez or Bustmonte and let it be know that this is a safety net, not something to honor the repugs with I think it would be better. I don't care if they run Willie Brown, James Brown, or Leon Panetta. Somebody needs to be there so the repugs don't take it. Davis has an abysmal approval rating right now, it is something like 23%. I don't think the voters will be educated enough in the upcoming election to make the desired choice. they will be asked "do you want Davis recalled, yes or no" I think most will say yes, even if they don't want any of the candidates listed. So to go on the attack against Issa, or Rirodan, or Simon is pointless. It is pointless unless there is another Dem on the ticket, besides Larry Flint.

[aquart]

20. NO, DAVIS DID NOT NEED TO STEP DOWN.

Yielding to blackmail encourages blackmail. It is exactly the same as negotiating with terrorists.

Because that is what this recall is: political terrorism.

The only possible response is total unity. But, as we failed to unite behind our elected President Gore, we are failing to unite behind our elected Governor Davis.

We are nullifying ourselves in the face of the bullies.

And we will be destroyed.

If we do not defend our vote, we lose our vote.

DEFEND YOUR VOTE.

[NashVegas]

21. Bullshit

Right now, Dems need more than ever to stand up to this crap, and most importantly, they need to be seen standing up to it. We need leaders, not deal makers, right now, if we're going to get votes.

[Tom Kitten]

9. What I'm asking is....

How can you have a ballot that says recall Davis yes or no...and then says vote for a replacement right now here ______ and it includes anybody who gets on the ballot...and what if Davis is on the ballot and wins, even though he was recalled? Is this how it works ?

[Jack Rabbit]

10. Can't happen

According to the California state constitution (article II, section 15), the target of a recall cannot be a candidate to replace himself.

[Democat]

13. Davis shouldn't resign, that would confuse things further

The Democrats do need a strong candidate on the ballot, but Davis should not resign, that would probably cause more confusion and it would be giving up too late. If he was going to resign, it should have been before the recall qualified.

[Name removed]

14. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[SideshowScott]

22. We need to get behind Davis..Like him or not...

I know there is ALOT of bad blood with davis with good reason BUT its not about Davis at all..Its about republicans trying to steal elections even further..Its about Bush trying to get califonia..Its about the GOPs dire hatred of the " Left Coast "..The GOP is just trying to change elections that they dont like the outcome of and its going to happen everytime a sore loser Republican loses to a Democrat if the davis recall is sucessful..Just another way the power hungry GOP is trying to turn america to a one party dictatorship if you ask me...If you dont like Davis Vote him out when the next elections roll in..But this is not the way to do it

[preocupied]

23. I would like to see Willie Brown as governor.....

Do you believe Willie has a chance? He's been a good mayor of San Francisco even though the right has tried to lynch him along with all other black Democratic leaders including Clinton...

[monobrau]

24. You have got to be kidding

Brown represents sleaze with a capital "S".
I'm not ready to replace one whore with another.
Do you even live in San Francisco?
It isn't just the right that despises him in these parts.