Historic California Elections- a climactic end to
a circus-like campaign APA NEWS (Asian
Pacific American) Nov/Dec 2003 - Volume 2 Issue No. 1 San Jose, CA: The people of California have spoken strongly but
with mixed messages. Tuesday, October 7th, 2003 signaled a climactic
ending to a short, brief and historic recall election in California,
with the winner, an actor with no political experience. Only in America
and only in California or rather Kali-fohr-nia – as it
should now be called, at least for the term of the incoming Governor
Arnold Schwarzenegger.
The people showed their frustration with current state of affairs and
demonstrated the “throw the incumbents out” attitude. Even registered
Democrats and Women- who were supposedly safe vote banks for Gov. Grey
Davis and the Democratic party- crossed lines to vote for moderate
Republican (pro choice, moderate) candidate Arnold Schwarzenegger
3,847,468 (48.7%); while the nearest candidate Cruz M. Bustamante (D)
got 2,499,124 (31.7%) . The overall “Yes to recall” garnered 4,531,880
votes (55.4%), while “No to Recall” drew 3,660,568 (44.6%).
The circus-like atmosphere to the recall elections was helped by high
profile candidate Arnold announcing his candidacy, on national TV (Jay
Leno show), with several of his key aides surprised by the
announcement. Add to it a bevy of over 135 certified candidates, each
putting in $3,500 required for filing papers! The colorful candidates
include Pornography publisher Larry Flynt (15,860 votes), porn-movie
star Mary Cook (10,301 votes), Ex-Child actor Gary Coleman (12,988
votes) and a bevy of other not so-serious candidates!
In terms of cost to the state, estimates are over $60 Million just to
conduct the elections- at a time when the state is facing ballooning
deficits. Many analysts predict a short honeymoon for Gov. Arnold.
Although with a fresh start and acknowledged inexperience, the
transition team appointed by Gov Arnold has already shown a broad
spectrum of potential troubleshooters.
The 68-people transition team named by Gov. elect Arnold on Oct
10,2003, include experienced people from diverse backgrounds like
Republican Bill Simon, SF Mayor Willie Brown, a Democrat and ex speaker
of California assembly, Hewlett Packard CEO Carly Fiorina, Gerry
Parsky, President Bush's top California adviser and Susan Estrich, who
ran Democrat Michael Dukakis' 1988 presidential campaign etc..
While some people may exclaim that Californians deserve what they voted
for- for most Californians, this was the only choice for hope and the
future, as opposed to the status-quo. And Who knows? as they say-
the Way California goes, soon so does the rest of the country. This
historic recall elections and message must have surely resounded in the
hallways of the National Democratic party and the GOP- all gearing up
for the Presidential elections in 2004.
http://www.ss.ca.gov/elections/elections.htm
Sam Rao
Contributing Writer APA NEWS (Asian
Pacific American) Nov/Dec 2003 - Volume 2 Issue No. 1
