Well, I thought of running, but I guess I won't. It really is a dilemma for those of us who don't want a right-wing talkshow bigot to take over the state. Nobody likes Governor Gray Davis, but he was duly elected in a lesser-of-two-evils race in November, 2002. It does seem like he used some dirty-tricks political advertising to help ensure that the best Republican candidate (Riordan) didn't get nominated, but it's the people who voted for the idiot who got the Republican nomination.

As I understand it, a simple majority can vote the Governor out in the recall, and then a pluriality can elect the new governor. In a field with many candidates, the new governor can conceivably be elected with less than ten percent of the vote. Since it's probably perceived as disloyal for a Democrat to run in this mixed-up race, it seems likely that the next governor will be the Republican with the best name recognition.

I sure don't like the idea of it. This was a wonderful state when I moved here in the 1970's, with good schools and highways and parks. Then came Proposition 13, which hogtied the tax system. Now our schools are deteriorating and our highways full of potholes, and the parks dirty and neglected. The tax revolters can afford to pay to go to Disneyland and send their kids to private schools, but the common people lost out to the Forces of Selfishness. California isn't what it used to be.

-Joe Offer-