"a gigantic Republican plot "...nope..just a smallish Republican plot. Some Republicans merely want to win...a few (like that poor fish who started this recall!) are thinking up ways to 'push' the winning a bit...

and, some, like Karl Rove and his ilk, certainly have long term plans and ideas FAR beyond a fair competition on ideologies and platforms. There used to be a term, Doug, which I'm sure you remember.."The Loyal Opposition"....what some very clever conservatives are striving for is NO opposition. Meaning, of course, no viable opposition, because the demographics of redistricting and the loaded courts and the influence of right-wing Christian organizations and the unbalanced tax laws will eventually make the voting system like Las Vegas gambling...the house ALWAYS has an edge!

If you want to see this on a slightly smaller scale right now...look at Utah! You simply do NOT do much in that state that is not approved by the LDS church! Orrin Hatch is one of the cleverer products of that system, and he scares me! Gradually, there are people like Rove and Hatch and others who don't make the stupid mistakes of a Newt Gingrich and realize they can't just SAY exactly what they are going to do...until they have done it. I didn't approve of Ronald Reagan, but he was 'mostly' guileless...these new boys are something else!