Do you think Cruz Bustamante was right to get into the race? can he win?

[CMT]

The Lt. Governor will allow his name to be on the recall ballot list of candidates. Can he rally Democrats? Can he beat Arnold? do you think it was the right thing to do? afterall Gov. Davis and many national Dems wanted other Dems to stay out of the race so that Dems would have no alternative if Davis is recalled?

In the end, I think it is the best course as we need an insurance candidate. I hope Bustamante can do it. It would be awesome to have a Latino governor of the largest state in the country.

[Sequoia]

1. Can't he just call it off and be the Governor?

Is that possible? He didn't care much for Davis as it was.

[On the Road]

2. He May Not Get Most of the 'Yes' Vote

but he has a much better chance of getting the 'No' vote (ie, voters who choose 'No' on the recall but select a candidate anyway).

The vote will be close and Bustamente's entry could even lose the election for Davis. But it could also guarantee a more legitimate successor.

[jos]

3. Had to have a backup

after Arnold got in. The problem is that Garamendi, the insurance commissioner, is also planning to get in. That will divide the Democratic vote. Plus you throw in left-leaning independents who will vote for Huffington, and Arnold needs fewer and fewer votes to win, even with 2 or 3 other Republicans in the race.

[stoystown]

4. No on both questions.

He should have stayed out.

[MidwestTransplant]

5. What I want to know is

if so many people run (130 filed papers and I figure at least 30 will go forward perhaps), how is anybody going to find names on the ballot and how will those names be arranged?

[Semi_subversive]

7. My understanding

is that the names will be placed in random order and not alphabetically. And after visiting the Secretary of State's Web site this morning, there were 356 potential candidates. This didn't include the latest wave from yesterday. D.L Hughley is even running.

[CMT]

6. if Bustamante is successful would there be a special election...

for LT. GOV or could he appoint someone?

[mndemocrat_29]

15. I think he'd appoint somebody.

[RevolutionStartsNow]

16. Maybe he could appoint Davis. Heh.

Then he could resign, making Davis Governor again.

Seriously, I don't think this move is any good for Davis and Bustamante's friendship, though I don't think there was much love lost anyway.

[ProfessorPlum]

8. god what an unholy nightmare the GOP has made of things

way to go.

[davidinalameda]

9. he had to

I'm not about to hand the governorship to the Republicans.

We needed a strong, known Democrat in the race.

[alarimer]

10. I don't get it

Why is the election set up this way? I would think that it would be better to have first an election to determine if the governor is to be recalled and then A second election to replace him some time later. As it stands now, someone can win with a very small percentage since this has become a circus with everyone and their mother running. At least their should be runoffs until someone ends up with 50% of the vote. To me this method seems unconstitutional and a recipe for disaster.

[Nashyra]

11. Why doesn't Davis just resign and let Bustamante

take over. Save the state millions of dollars.

[DrFunkenstein]

12. He Can Beat Benedict Arnold

For the 1970th Annual Judas Awards.

You do the math.

[PROGRESSIVE1]

13. We've got to work like HELL to defeat this coup!!!

Otherwise the "GOP Wolfgang Junta" will have great influence over California. This is not good for us!!!
Even if you Democratcs are angry at Gray, you should still go out and vote to protect the Democrats from this otherthrow of the system!

[dfong63]

14. i'll probably vote for cruz

he got more votes than davis in the last election... therefore he's clearly electable.

i don't know much about his politics, but i think he's got a legitimate claim to be in the capitol.

[LWolf]

17. Yes, yes, and...

I'm putting on my tinfoil hat.

:tinfoilhat:

Yes because it's too late for Davis to resign and let Bustamonte take over. The recall is bogus and shouldn't happen, but there are way too many people, dems included, who can't stand Davis, and it's not all about the bull* energy/economy fiasco. I listened to a bunch tonight, planning to vote "no," but hedging their votes with someone else.

He can and should win because he is the most logical choice here; that's what we elected him for to begin with. To take the governor's spot if something happened to the governor. IMO, it's not a popularity contest.

I'm worried about left-leaning independents and other people on the ballot. We need to be unified. Here's where the hat comes in:

:tinfoilhat:

I was at a meetup tonight; a whole group of californians. While we were there to organize a primary campaign, the recall was energetically discussed. And while I listened to all of these people tossing ideas and viewpoints back and forth, I was thinking, "Just please, don't give me a repub governor." And someone started talking about how maybe it would be good to let a repub be governor now, since we're in the tank and things won't be getting better anytime soon; that way they could take the flack. I asked why the repubs would want to take that chance...and while they ran with that, it finally occurred to me. I know, I'm slow. A repub governor now means a repub governor in place for the 2004 election. A Florida re-pubrun. Those CA electoral votes are a weighty influence on the outcome of the election....

Please, no republican governor.