What in the hell is going on in California?

[msmcghee]

It seems just a few months ago I was reading articles stating that even though California's budget was really screwed - everyone understood that it was caused by fraudulent electrical distributors in collusion with Enron and a few other major Repuke donors - but the silver lining was that it would be decades before any repuke would ever be able to gain high elected office either for or from that state.

Now Ah-nold - the Nazi, sex-maniac, groper with no plan or experience in governance, much less taking control of the fifth largest economy in the world that is close to bankruptcy - is ahead in the polls just a few days from the election - and I'm being asked to donate money to help get the word out to California voters explaining the truth about Ah-nold.

I donated. That's not the problem. What I want to know is how in the hell did this happen? I can't help but suspect there's been some monumental miscalculation and/or stupidity either in the Cal democratic party and/or the national dem leadership.

Maybe I'm way off base on this and there's some other explanation. If so, could someone who understands these things better than me explain why this is happening?

[Le Taz Hot]

1. Oh, quit panicking and read this

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=466584

Now, NO MORE BAD VIBES!!! B-)

[Noordam]

2. Florida boy here is just smiling at the fools in California

:evilgrin:

I have no clue why Terminator is getting every pass in the book.

[Le Taz Hot]

3. Hey, WE didn't elect Jeb. TWICE!

:evilgrin: B-)

[msmcghee]

4. I understand about the sheeple.

Every state has lots of idiots who don't understand the first thing about governance and will vote for someone just like they voted for class president - 'cause they're popular and cool.

But it seemed like we had Cal in the bag. I thought the national dem leadership would have used the Cal economy and budget woes as an example of repuke values run amok (which it was/is) - and would be continually rubbing their noses in it.

If Arnie wins this - isn't that telling the rest of the country that even Californians don't blame the pukes for what happened - they blamed the Dem governor instead.

But the important question for me is - if the pukes can pull something like this off in a huge state that we had in the bag - where they totally fucked up and everyine knew it - what does that say for all those close states that we are depending on to help us take back the WH?

[Bandit]

5. The Fix is in.

California has been taken care of. It will be shown quite plainly when or if a Republican slime bucket wins in a SOLID Democratic state. If you believe a majority of Democrats are going to sell their state out then I have an Aluminum mine I wish to sell you.

[msmcghee]

6. My pupose is not to cast blame from anger.

It is to understand what went on here - to understand how they could even get this close to pulling it off, even if they fail next week.

If we don't understand it - and so far I have heard or seen no plausible explanations - then we could be in line for a sucker punch come November, 2004. The sooner we figure this out the better.

Are you saying that the pukes have pulled a fast one somehow and we'll find out about it later? Isn't now the time to know about it?

[0rganism]

7. Problem is, it's not a "majority of Democrats selling out"

The irony here is that a majority of Democrats could vote against the recall and for Cruz, but Ahnold can still pull it off. All he has to do is

* get more votes than the other recall candidates

whereas Davis has to

* get a true majority of votes

So let's say 80% of democrats vote against the recall, that's still less than the majority Davis needs to stay in office. If the Democratic defectors, the other 20%, vote with 80% of the republicans for Ahnold just because they think he's funny, moderate, charismatic, whatever, then he could well win a true majority -- even though he doesn't have to!

[msmcghee]

8. OK, that helps me understand this better.

Thanks.

But . . . the dem party knew the election / recall laws and the vulnerability that posed. It also seems this has been in the wind for several months now. Was there nothing they could have done to neutralize that danger?

Shouldn't they have assumed that the pukes would do whatever they could get away with?

If any dem strategists have any doubts about repuke respect for democracy after the "Contract on America", shutting down the government, Whitewater, impeachment, Florida 2000 and Texas Redistricting 2003 - that seems totally inexcusable to me.

Is this the result of DNC compacency? Surely they know what they are up against by now