Geronimo : What if Osama Bin Laden was killed prior to 9/11?
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Love the update. I can't help but think Bush is on course for a 1 term presidency but we shall see.
Part 26: Only in California
Part XXVI
Only in California
37th Governor of California Gray Davis
In 2002 following a long and bitter election campaign Gray Davis was re-elected as Governor of California defeating Republican businessman Bill Simon. The Davis campaign overcame widespread voter apathy in the state and low favourabilities at the polls. It wasn’t much of a surprise, that the incumbent governor was victorious in the favourable Democratic 2002 electoral climate in the liberal-leaning state, but the disappointment at the polls between picking Davis who was mired in a ‘pay for play’ scandal and Simon the inexperienced, entrepreneur under investigation for fraud greatly depressed voter turnout. In the aftermath of his pyrrhic victory, the Golden state experienced a political roller coaster like no other.
Davis’s second term was clouded from the start by a pile of problems weighing on him. By far the greatest drag on Davis’s popularity was the California energy crisis, from 2000 to 2001. California, despite being a large energy exporter began to suffer from huge price hikes and rolling blackouts. The Governor declared the situation a state of emergency and to resolve the crisis, began buying electricity at the inflated prices contributing to California’s simultaneous debt crisis created by the dot com crash that had been fuelling the state’s 90’s economic boom, as well as Davis’s government programmes and tax cuts. The cause of the energy crisis was pinned on a single company, the big E, Enron. Prior to its historic crash, one of Enron’s many schemes involved manipulating the California energy market, where Enron alongside other energy companies worked to deliberately restrict the state’s energy output creating the blackouts and price hikes. The market manipulation along with pre-Davis era deregulation and privatisation (championed by Enron) combined with the Governor's delay in addressing the crisis all greatly multiplied the damage and the political fallout for Davis.
The second decision that turned Davis from a polarizing incumbent to a truly unpopular one was his solution to the aforementioned debt crisis, raising taxes. Desperate to raise state revenues the governor took unilateral action to raise the fees on vehicle registration, the average fee tripled from $70 to $210. Davis said the tax was necessary to maintain roads “Without the increase, we would face a severe public safety emergency,”, but his explanation was not enough for some “The state is not entitled to that money,” said State Senator. Tom McClintock spoke to reporters in the lobby of the attorney general’s office, where he filed proposed ballot initiatives to roll back the tax rate to $1 or abolish it altogether. “They are breaking the law by taking it.”. The twin crisis and the tax increase plummeted Davis’s popularity to a dismal low of 26% only 6 months after his re-election.
Alongside that popular discontent came California’s recall law, the ability for voters to remove an elected representative following a petition of the voters. There had been over a hundred attempts to do so but to date, there had never been a successful recall of a state-wide official, Davis even faced a petition in 1999 but the anger always fizzled before the requisite number of signatures were signed. But now Davis had frustrated the majority of conservative groups in the state, blocking efforts to enact stronger immigration laws as well as implementing gun control laws. An effort to recall the Governor became backed by Republican office holders including Representative Darrell Issa who donated millions of his own dollars to the movement and the signatures flowed in “Gray Davis is as popular as SARS right now in California,” an Issa staffer said. “There’s not going to be any trouble getting the signatures we need”. Davis also suffered criticism on his left, perceiving him as a moderate who was corrupt and subservient to business interests which explained his slow action to solve the energy crisis, to them he was a “middle-of-the-roader whose grand political vision begins and ends with the desire to offend no one -- especially anyone with a chequebook” said prominent liberal columnist Arianna Huffington. Opponents of a recall tried to lay the fault of the crisis away from Davis, he didn’t create the dot com bubble or deregulate the energy market, that was the fault of the former Republican Governor and Enron executives, accusing the whole recall push of being an attempt by sore Republicans to undemocratically remove Davis, California Senator Feinstein gave her support to the Governor “A recall is not going to produce anything positive for the state of California,”. Governor Davis meanwhile did his best to stay away from the entire affair, believing that his dignifying the petition would simply fan the flames of discontent. The well-organized campaign took off and sure enough passed the required threshold, it was a certainty, and there was a recall election underway in California.
Pro ant anti-recall campaigners
What followed was described across headlines as a ‘laughingstock’ ‘carnival’ or ‘circus’, the barrier for a recall candidate’s entry was much lower than a normal election all it took was a few thousand dollars to be made a candidate. The primary system would be skipped entirely meaning that come election day voters would vote simultaneously on whether to recall Davis or not and who should replace him. The field quickly filled with hundreds of potential Davis replacements some credible most ridiculous.
The first candidate to come forward was Representative Darrell Issa who funded the campaign and subsequently faced heavy accusations that he had financed the entire campaign just to manoeuvre his way into the office “Do we replace one bad guy with another? That’s the only real question.” As one Californian put it. Other Republicans were quick to join the race, State Senator Tom McClintock a staunch conservative who routinely challenged the governor, and Republican Businessman and Baseball Commissioner Peter Ueberroth ran an outsider campaign pledging to save California the way he saved the 1984 LA Olympics. Additionally, Davis’s former rival Bill Simon jumped into the race too. Still, the candidate that created the greatest splash in the race was the former Mayor of Los Angeles, Richard Riordan who lost the primary campaign in 2002 thanks to Davis’s attack ads designed to favour more conservative candidates for the general election Riordan was a moderate Republican with implicit support from Republican officials including White House connections hoping that a centrist Republican, supportive of abortion and gay rights was going to be the best bet to beat Davis. Still, he was a damaged candidate, the previous year’s primary campaign left him labelled a RINO (Republican in name only) who had a close relationship with Democrats including former President Clinton and Senator Feinstein and had been similarly tarred by a suspicious relationship with Enron. Riordan received an early endorsement from a friend and neighbour, the famed action star Republican Actor Arnold Schwarzenegger who had been courted to run for the governorship but cited prior movie commitments (a sequel to 1994’s True Lies). On the Tonight Show with Jay Leno, he said "I know the people of California want better leadership, they want great leadership," he said. "It doesn't matter if you're a Democrat or a Republican if you're young or old., we want change and Riordan can give us that change ... we need to say hasta la vista to Gray Davis”
Republicans who entered the race, (left to right) Peter Ueberroth, Darell Issa, Richard Riordan, Tom McClintock, Bill Simons
The Democrat's response was shaky, Davis’s efforts to avoid the recall by ignoring it had failed and even went against some of the advice of Democratic leaders, who were aware of his low favourability. Conscious that if the recall effort were successful, they would be stuck with a Republican Governor they were split over the right strategy to respond. Some wanted to lean into the recall and draft Senator Feinstein (the state's most popular politician) to run as a replacement, but she rebuffed those efforts and encouraged Democrats to put up a united front against the recall. " After thinking a great deal about this recall, its implications for the future and its misguided nature, I have decided that I will not place my name on the ballot, … We are united against the recall of Gov. Davis and urge all potential Democratic candidates to stay off the recall ballot," With Feinstein out, wary Democrats searched for a potential replacement candidate. Perhaps Lt Governor Cruz Bustamante who had a frosty relationship with the governor however had since ruled out a run declaring he was ‘100% behind the governor’, (Bustamante later said he considered entering but put it off when polls swung in Davis’s favour). There were options to consider other than Feinstein or Bustamante, Representative Loretta Sanchez had national party support and publicly made the callout “The recall is wrong. But as Democrats, our obligation is to look out for the welfare of our state, which is even greater than our duty to defend our governor.” Implying that a Democrat should jump in, offering herself if none would. Sanchez’s words were harder to act on, despite Gray’s unpopularity the recall question was still up in the air without a firm replacement and polls generally placed Gray over the top by 3% to 5%. Davis’s bounce back scared away some Democrats from jumping into the race including Senator Barbara Boxer who called the recall an ‘unfunny joke’. Ultimately only elected Democrat announced he would run, the state insurance commissioner John Garamendi who had run for Governor twice beforehand, yet he never filed the papers and publicly rescinded his candidacy only 2 days later (likely after some stern conversations). Democrats had rounded the bases in their response but managed to keep together a united party against the Republicans, opening the door to less conventional candidates. [1]
Prominent Democrats that did not enter the race (left to right). John Garamendi, Barbara Boxer, Dianne Feinstein, Cruz Bustamante, Loretta Sanchez
Two candidates arose to represent the liberal opposition on the ballot, the Green party was represented by Peter Camejo an avowed democratic socialist (he described himself as a watermelon, green on the outside, red on the inside) he had run as the gubernatorial candidate in 2002 and gained 5% (the largest third-party turnout since the Prohibition party) And who came second place in front of Republicans in several California metropolitan areas. Camejo and the Greens supported the recall from the start and tried to present themselves as the reasonable left opposition to Gray Davis and adorned a more moderate tone. Camejo believed that without a Democratic candidate in the race it offered the perfect opportunity for a third party to jump in. Then there was the other ‘left’ candidate in the race, writer, columnist and socialite Arianna Huffington. She had crossed the political aisle from anti-Clinton conservative (and ex-wife of former Republican congressmen) to now an anti-Bush liberal who had endorsed the Democrats the previous year. Her campaign was a curious one, she presented herself as doing what the mainstream Democrats had refused to do, place an opposition to the Republicans on the ballot and launched an attack against the Republicans "Nothing is more laughable than hearing the Republicans running, blame everything about the state on Gray Davis' fiscal irresponsibility, while ignoring the orgy of fiscal irresponsibility going on in Washington presided over by George W. Bush and the Congress …My Democratic friends are right -- this recall is led by an embittered cult of right-wing zealots who have overdosed on tax-cuts Kool-Aid.". Then there were the other candidates including porn baron Larry Flynt pitched himself as a "smut peddler who cares" and Porn actress Mary Carey pledged that “I can promise you all Californians will be smiling and satisfied with my job performance.”. And the prop comic Gallagher ran a campaign of substance his slogan "Finally, a governor you can get drunk with."
(Top Left, Clockwise) Peter Camejo, Arianna Huffington, Leo Gallagher, Larry Flynt, Marey Carey
The spectacle drew national attention, a 90-day race (much shorter than any normal American election cycle), the mad scramble for candidates to enter the race, and the sheer number of candidates, meant the election generated its own economy, the Game Show network even launched a show called ‘Who wants to be the governor of California’ featuring some of the more ridiculous candidates. And the constantly shifting polling data on the candidates. A key area in the race became fundraising, Davis’s potential replacements were limited in how much money they could attain via donations, (21,000 maximum per donor) as opposed to Davis who was unlimited, this favoured candidates with private wealth such as Darell Issa, Bill Simons, Peter Ueberroth or Arianna Huffington (or even Flynt who briefly polled at 3%).
The crowd needed to be thinned down, among the Republicans polling placed Riordan with a wide 14-point lead over his competition, his moderate stances and term as mayor of LA were appealing, and the Republican party began urging all candidates to get out of his way but many proved too stubborn to budge, after a week in the campaign Bill Simons who defeated Riordan in the 2002 Republican primary bruised from fraud allegations and the view that he had already blown his shot “There are too many Republicans in this race, and the people of our state simply cannot risk a continuation of the Gray Davis legacy. For these reasons, I think it's wise to step aside.” However, he failed to endorse Riordan giving Riordan’s more conservative opposition, room to move in.
Congressman Issa, who made his millions in the car-alarm business made a splashy entrance spending millions attacking Davis to present himself as the clear Republican candidate for backing the recall petition long before Riordan and putting his agenda to the public. But he also presented the perfect opposition to Democrats who painted him a millionaire simply using the recall to catapult himself into office, neither was he a particularly gifted speaker leading him to go off-topic including an awkward moment he raised the Israeli Palestine question with reporters and had a conservative voting record on guns and abortion rights; in a straight match he was most likely to lose against Davis but this wasn’t a straight match. McClintock the fiscally conservative candidate with a lot less baggage than Riordan or Issa in third only a couple per cent behind Issa who attracted those who disliked Issa on principle and gained the most from Simon's withdrawal “We have momentum our message is building and spreading all across California” while Ueberroth similarly stuck it out “I am the candidate who will keep jobs in California, there is no better candidate than me”. Perhaps what played into the Republican mindset of refusing to drop out was the lack of a solid Democratic candidate, there was little reason to leave the race if it was impossible to be a spoiler.
The most prominent candidates of the left Huffington and Camejo were greatly benefiting from the lack of an official Democratic candidate sitting at 9 and 4 per cent individually at the start of the race. Both candidates skewered both Davis and the Republicans in the race as dually responsible for the state’s current financial-economic woes. Camejo - “the difference between Davis and the Republicans is that Davis calls himself a Democrat” Huffington – “the last thing California can afford is a Republican Governor who will cut spending programs, and basically perpetuate the disastrous policies of Pete Wilson which, frankly, were largely followed through by Gray Davis” Both candidates cooperated in their campaigns and evidence showed that their points were breaking through to the public as Huffington launched an ad campaign and website to bring in donations pushing her ahead of the lesser Republican candidates and received access to national and local television and radio, to get her anti-corruption agenda across.
The candidates came together for the 1st of 5 debates, 6 major candidates joined, notably not including Riordan who in the lead intended to stay above the fray and not delve into what the media was calling less a circus, and now just a freak show. Davis took place in a separate town hall where he vowed to do a better job and to keep “in better touch with [the voters]”. The candidates distinguished themselves across the political spectrum on immigration and gun laws. Riordan for his part was trying to define himself as the governor waiting in the wings and build a nonpartisan image, just as the Davis campaign levelled the same ads it used against him a year ago to paint the entire Republican roster as Bush conservatives preparing to roll back the states liberal policies. Huffington and Camejo levelled their anti-corruption campaign at Davis, Riordan and Issa pointing to the millions donated to the Davis campaign in the past by tribal groups "It is nothing but legalized bribery, once you accept money from them, there is a compromise.". Davis responded by taking a shot at the Conservatives and Huffington by joking about their values and her accent “We need a governor who represents this state's values and who can pronounce it” The comment backfired, Huffington a Greek immigrant took the comment seriously “What Davis said was an insult to the 9 million Californians who were not born in this country.” And Davis was met with criticism from all sides including Democratic state senators who joined with Republicans to ask for an apology which he provided.
The election's ups and downs narrowed the race, Davis’s NO campaign seemed to widen its lead as Riordan’s hopes fell due to an unenthusiastic campaign that struggled to keep up with the quick-paced election. Issa and Riordan tried to push the other into retiring from the race claiming that Republican infighting was hurting the recalls chances, McClintock the favourite of bedrock conservatives flatly “I’m not tilting at windmills, it takes persistence to achieve anything”, Issa considered retiring himself from the race before changing his mind after he received a boost in media attention from his debate performances sparring with Huffington as well as becoming the target of a smear campaign by militant pro-Israeli groups for both his middle eastern heritage and his views on the Israel Palestine topic (his office and home were evacuated due to a bomb threat), and he surged a few points behind Riordan.
As Davis’s chances narrowed as the election drew closer (his 7-point lead had reduced to 4), the Republican field narrowed, and the NO campaign struggled to find a resonating message. Democrats grew concerned that their strategy of standing united may just result in a very conservative Governor, so many began to grant implicit support to the Huffington campaign as a sort of fallback and as a means to energize voters likely to vote NO, to go to the polling stations. Barbara Boxer said, “We don’t want Riordan or Issa Governor and Democrats after voting against the recall, should consider another candidate in the election” or as a staffer put it “We needed turn out to be high if we wanted a strong mandate to govern”. Huffington’s campaign which had dwarfed Green Party’s Camejo built momentum as the progressive outsider and was aided by celebrity endorsements, grassroots student support and national donations. Huffington was now seen as the only viable Liberal alternative and began a late surge, polling third in the race behind Riordan and Issa and for their part, the conservatives attacked Huffington for her former conservative views including immigration but this also highlighted that Riordan had no defined immigration policy and that both Issa and McClintock looked too conservative for the state.
Candidates Huffington, Riordan and Issa on the campaign trail
In the election's final days, a mad rush ensued, hundreds of thousands of Californians registered to vote including many for the first time, and the candidates rushed to pip each other at the post. Camejo following the agreement of an informal alliance dropped out and endorsed Huffington calling her “the best opportunity to make a change” (Though Camejo was already printed on the ballot) Ueberroth also dropped out polling at just 3 per cent (briefly below Camejo) as the only other moderate in the race Ridoran hoped to gain some steam but the businessman declined to endorse any candidate prior to election day. Riordan tried to frame himself as a fiscally sound moderate highlighting his 8 years as mayor and pivoting to bring enough centrist Democrats and Republicans on board to defeat the other candidates, but his support from the Republican base had dropped dramatically and Issa began trending even with him, a dramatic turnaround.
Huffington’s rise as a prominent candidate in the recall led some Republicans to attack her for hypocrisy, as she ran a campaign that targeted “corporate fat cats get away with not paying their fair share of taxes.” While her own taxes showed she had only paid $771 in income taxes. Huffington claimed this was down to her fluctuating income due to book sales, and corporate losses as well as pointing to the money she paid in property taxes and pointed the blame squarely back on Riordan who she called ‘Mr Special Interest’ and tried to tie his candidacy directly to Enron through donations he received as well as a private meeting between Republicans including Riordan and the former Enron CEO Kenneth Lay to further deregulate California’s energy market, Riordan denied any impropriety.
Going into election day, the uncertainty on who the potential replacement would be seemed to push more into Davis’s camp as support for the recall fell to around 45% and his approval ratings rose out of their dismal lows in the summer possibly due to a particular deadly wildfire season that set in. Polling of the candidates placed Riordan and Issa dancing around 30% with Huffington at 24% However Davis, California and the world were shocked by the turn of events.
With dramatically high turnout across the state, the race was tight but ultimately the voters decided to axe Gray Davis. For the first time in the state’s history, the second successful recall of a U.S. Governor was decided, by a margin of 1.23%, around 97,000 votes. Californians tired of high energy bills, blackouts, deficits and tax increases voted for a change of leadership. Davis who pitched himself as having “experience money can’t buy” was forced to accept that all that experience was not enough for the public “The voters have been good to me, electing me twice as governor, allowing me to serve 35 million people," Davis said on CNN. "I'm very grateful to them, very grateful for the opportunity to try and move the state forward, and whatever their judgment is tonight, I will accept it.”
But the question of who would be replacing Davis was somehow a more momentous moment with the Republican vote spread across three candidates, Arianna Stassinopoulos Huffington, the Greek-born writer, socialite and media personality was elected the first female Governor of California, the nation’s most populous state beating the polls by a 5 point margin to best her Republican rivals. Huffington who ran a dark horse campaign of progressive reform captured 29.9 per cent of the vote, she announced her outsider campaign on the Larry King show utilizing a grassroots movement, national and local media attention and a strategic alliance of left leaning groups to triumph. “I know that I will not be a conventional Governor,” She said in a speech following her victory “But these are not conventional times … Thank you so much to everyone in California for sending a message. That money cannot buy power” The October 7th election was the climax of one of the strangest episodes in U.S. political history. The irony of the recall was not lost on many, dubbed the ‘recall of unintended consequences’ by the Washington Post, that an effort by hard-line conservative Republicans resulted in the removal of a moderate Democrat and the election of a progressive one. A lot of factors had to come together to elect a Governor with less than a third of the vote, Davis’s historical unpopularity, the inability of the Democratic party to present an official challenger, the disarray amongst the Republicans to find a strong candidate, the record turnout aided by local and national events (this occurred at the height of the anti-war movement). The fallout would be vast and ended the political careers of both Davis and Riordan titans of California politics and propelled the newbie Huffington, her rise was tagged the “Greatest ascent of a Greek since Icarus”
Gray Davis concedes in the wake of the recall
2003 California Recall WikiBox
38th Governor of California Arianna Huffington
[1] Schwarzenneger changed the outlook of the race, his jumping in made him the obvious Republican candidate and most Democrats were certain that Davis was toast
Only in California
37th Governor of California Gray Davis
In 2002 following a long and bitter election campaign Gray Davis was re-elected as Governor of California defeating Republican businessman Bill Simon. The Davis campaign overcame widespread voter apathy in the state and low favourabilities at the polls. It wasn’t much of a surprise, that the incumbent governor was victorious in the favourable Democratic 2002 electoral climate in the liberal-leaning state, but the disappointment at the polls between picking Davis who was mired in a ‘pay for play’ scandal and Simon the inexperienced, entrepreneur under investigation for fraud greatly depressed voter turnout. In the aftermath of his pyrrhic victory, the Golden state experienced a political roller coaster like no other.
Davis’s second term was clouded from the start by a pile of problems weighing on him. By far the greatest drag on Davis’s popularity was the California energy crisis, from 2000 to 2001. California, despite being a large energy exporter began to suffer from huge price hikes and rolling blackouts. The Governor declared the situation a state of emergency and to resolve the crisis, began buying electricity at the inflated prices contributing to California’s simultaneous debt crisis created by the dot com crash that had been fuelling the state’s 90’s economic boom, as well as Davis’s government programmes and tax cuts. The cause of the energy crisis was pinned on a single company, the big E, Enron. Prior to its historic crash, one of Enron’s many schemes involved manipulating the California energy market, where Enron alongside other energy companies worked to deliberately restrict the state’s energy output creating the blackouts and price hikes. The market manipulation along with pre-Davis era deregulation and privatisation (championed by Enron) combined with the Governor's delay in addressing the crisis all greatly multiplied the damage and the political fallout for Davis.
The second decision that turned Davis from a polarizing incumbent to a truly unpopular one was his solution to the aforementioned debt crisis, raising taxes. Desperate to raise state revenues the governor took unilateral action to raise the fees on vehicle registration, the average fee tripled from $70 to $210. Davis said the tax was necessary to maintain roads “Without the increase, we would face a severe public safety emergency,”, but his explanation was not enough for some “The state is not entitled to that money,” said State Senator. Tom McClintock spoke to reporters in the lobby of the attorney general’s office, where he filed proposed ballot initiatives to roll back the tax rate to $1 or abolish it altogether. “They are breaking the law by taking it.”. The twin crisis and the tax increase plummeted Davis’s popularity to a dismal low of 26% only 6 months after his re-election.
Alongside that popular discontent came California’s recall law, the ability for voters to remove an elected representative following a petition of the voters. There had been over a hundred attempts to do so but to date, there had never been a successful recall of a state-wide official, Davis even faced a petition in 1999 but the anger always fizzled before the requisite number of signatures were signed. But now Davis had frustrated the majority of conservative groups in the state, blocking efforts to enact stronger immigration laws as well as implementing gun control laws. An effort to recall the Governor became backed by Republican office holders including Representative Darrell Issa who donated millions of his own dollars to the movement and the signatures flowed in “Gray Davis is as popular as SARS right now in California,” an Issa staffer said. “There’s not going to be any trouble getting the signatures we need”. Davis also suffered criticism on his left, perceiving him as a moderate who was corrupt and subservient to business interests which explained his slow action to solve the energy crisis, to them he was a “middle-of-the-roader whose grand political vision begins and ends with the desire to offend no one -- especially anyone with a chequebook” said prominent liberal columnist Arianna Huffington. Opponents of a recall tried to lay the fault of the crisis away from Davis, he didn’t create the dot com bubble or deregulate the energy market, that was the fault of the former Republican Governor and Enron executives, accusing the whole recall push of being an attempt by sore Republicans to undemocratically remove Davis, California Senator Feinstein gave her support to the Governor “A recall is not going to produce anything positive for the state of California,”. Governor Davis meanwhile did his best to stay away from the entire affair, believing that his dignifying the petition would simply fan the flames of discontent. The well-organized campaign took off and sure enough passed the required threshold, it was a certainty, and there was a recall election underway in California.
Pro ant anti-recall campaigners
What followed was described across headlines as a ‘laughingstock’ ‘carnival’ or ‘circus’, the barrier for a recall candidate’s entry was much lower than a normal election all it took was a few thousand dollars to be made a candidate. The primary system would be skipped entirely meaning that come election day voters would vote simultaneously on whether to recall Davis or not and who should replace him. The field quickly filled with hundreds of potential Davis replacements some credible most ridiculous.
The first candidate to come forward was Representative Darrell Issa who funded the campaign and subsequently faced heavy accusations that he had financed the entire campaign just to manoeuvre his way into the office “Do we replace one bad guy with another? That’s the only real question.” As one Californian put it. Other Republicans were quick to join the race, State Senator Tom McClintock a staunch conservative who routinely challenged the governor, and Republican Businessman and Baseball Commissioner Peter Ueberroth ran an outsider campaign pledging to save California the way he saved the 1984 LA Olympics. Additionally, Davis’s former rival Bill Simon jumped into the race too. Still, the candidate that created the greatest splash in the race was the former Mayor of Los Angeles, Richard Riordan who lost the primary campaign in 2002 thanks to Davis’s attack ads designed to favour more conservative candidates for the general election Riordan was a moderate Republican with implicit support from Republican officials including White House connections hoping that a centrist Republican, supportive of abortion and gay rights was going to be the best bet to beat Davis. Still, he was a damaged candidate, the previous year’s primary campaign left him labelled a RINO (Republican in name only) who had a close relationship with Democrats including former President Clinton and Senator Feinstein and had been similarly tarred by a suspicious relationship with Enron. Riordan received an early endorsement from a friend and neighbour, the famed action star Republican Actor Arnold Schwarzenegger who had been courted to run for the governorship but cited prior movie commitments (a sequel to 1994’s True Lies). On the Tonight Show with Jay Leno, he said "I know the people of California want better leadership, they want great leadership," he said. "It doesn't matter if you're a Democrat or a Republican if you're young or old., we want change and Riordan can give us that change ... we need to say hasta la vista to Gray Davis”
Republicans who entered the race, (left to right) Peter Ueberroth, Darell Issa, Richard Riordan, Tom McClintock, Bill Simons
The Democrat's response was shaky, Davis’s efforts to avoid the recall by ignoring it had failed and even went against some of the advice of Democratic leaders, who were aware of his low favourability. Conscious that if the recall effort were successful, they would be stuck with a Republican Governor they were split over the right strategy to respond. Some wanted to lean into the recall and draft Senator Feinstein (the state's most popular politician) to run as a replacement, but she rebuffed those efforts and encouraged Democrats to put up a united front against the recall. " After thinking a great deal about this recall, its implications for the future and its misguided nature, I have decided that I will not place my name on the ballot, … We are united against the recall of Gov. Davis and urge all potential Democratic candidates to stay off the recall ballot," With Feinstein out, wary Democrats searched for a potential replacement candidate. Perhaps Lt Governor Cruz Bustamante who had a frosty relationship with the governor however had since ruled out a run declaring he was ‘100% behind the governor’, (Bustamante later said he considered entering but put it off when polls swung in Davis’s favour). There were options to consider other than Feinstein or Bustamante, Representative Loretta Sanchez had national party support and publicly made the callout “The recall is wrong. But as Democrats, our obligation is to look out for the welfare of our state, which is even greater than our duty to defend our governor.” Implying that a Democrat should jump in, offering herself if none would. Sanchez’s words were harder to act on, despite Gray’s unpopularity the recall question was still up in the air without a firm replacement and polls generally placed Gray over the top by 3% to 5%. Davis’s bounce back scared away some Democrats from jumping into the race including Senator Barbara Boxer who called the recall an ‘unfunny joke’. Ultimately only elected Democrat announced he would run, the state insurance commissioner John Garamendi who had run for Governor twice beforehand, yet he never filed the papers and publicly rescinded his candidacy only 2 days later (likely after some stern conversations). Democrats had rounded the bases in their response but managed to keep together a united party against the Republicans, opening the door to less conventional candidates. [1]
Prominent Democrats that did not enter the race (left to right). John Garamendi, Barbara Boxer, Dianne Feinstein, Cruz Bustamante, Loretta Sanchez
Two candidates arose to represent the liberal opposition on the ballot, the Green party was represented by Peter Camejo an avowed democratic socialist (he described himself as a watermelon, green on the outside, red on the inside) he had run as the gubernatorial candidate in 2002 and gained 5% (the largest third-party turnout since the Prohibition party) And who came second place in front of Republicans in several California metropolitan areas. Camejo and the Greens supported the recall from the start and tried to present themselves as the reasonable left opposition to Gray Davis and adorned a more moderate tone. Camejo believed that without a Democratic candidate in the race it offered the perfect opportunity for a third party to jump in. Then there was the other ‘left’ candidate in the race, writer, columnist and socialite Arianna Huffington. She had crossed the political aisle from anti-Clinton conservative (and ex-wife of former Republican congressmen) to now an anti-Bush liberal who had endorsed the Democrats the previous year. Her campaign was a curious one, she presented herself as doing what the mainstream Democrats had refused to do, place an opposition to the Republicans on the ballot and launched an attack against the Republicans "Nothing is more laughable than hearing the Republicans running, blame everything about the state on Gray Davis' fiscal irresponsibility, while ignoring the orgy of fiscal irresponsibility going on in Washington presided over by George W. Bush and the Congress …My Democratic friends are right -- this recall is led by an embittered cult of right-wing zealots who have overdosed on tax-cuts Kool-Aid.". Then there were the other candidates including porn baron Larry Flynt pitched himself as a "smut peddler who cares" and Porn actress Mary Carey pledged that “I can promise you all Californians will be smiling and satisfied with my job performance.”. And the prop comic Gallagher ran a campaign of substance his slogan "Finally, a governor you can get drunk with."
(Top Left, Clockwise) Peter Camejo, Arianna Huffington, Leo Gallagher, Larry Flynt, Marey Carey
The spectacle drew national attention, a 90-day race (much shorter than any normal American election cycle), the mad scramble for candidates to enter the race, and the sheer number of candidates, meant the election generated its own economy, the Game Show network even launched a show called ‘Who wants to be the governor of California’ featuring some of the more ridiculous candidates. And the constantly shifting polling data on the candidates. A key area in the race became fundraising, Davis’s potential replacements were limited in how much money they could attain via donations, (21,000 maximum per donor) as opposed to Davis who was unlimited, this favoured candidates with private wealth such as Darell Issa, Bill Simons, Peter Ueberroth or Arianna Huffington (or even Flynt who briefly polled at 3%).
The crowd needed to be thinned down, among the Republicans polling placed Riordan with a wide 14-point lead over his competition, his moderate stances and term as mayor of LA were appealing, and the Republican party began urging all candidates to get out of his way but many proved too stubborn to budge, after a week in the campaign Bill Simons who defeated Riordan in the 2002 Republican primary bruised from fraud allegations and the view that he had already blown his shot “There are too many Republicans in this race, and the people of our state simply cannot risk a continuation of the Gray Davis legacy. For these reasons, I think it's wise to step aside.” However, he failed to endorse Riordan giving Riordan’s more conservative opposition, room to move in.
Congressman Issa, who made his millions in the car-alarm business made a splashy entrance spending millions attacking Davis to present himself as the clear Republican candidate for backing the recall petition long before Riordan and putting his agenda to the public. But he also presented the perfect opposition to Democrats who painted him a millionaire simply using the recall to catapult himself into office, neither was he a particularly gifted speaker leading him to go off-topic including an awkward moment he raised the Israeli Palestine question with reporters and had a conservative voting record on guns and abortion rights; in a straight match he was most likely to lose against Davis but this wasn’t a straight match. McClintock the fiscally conservative candidate with a lot less baggage than Riordan or Issa in third only a couple per cent behind Issa who attracted those who disliked Issa on principle and gained the most from Simon's withdrawal “We have momentum our message is building and spreading all across California” while Ueberroth similarly stuck it out “I am the candidate who will keep jobs in California, there is no better candidate than me”. Perhaps what played into the Republican mindset of refusing to drop out was the lack of a solid Democratic candidate, there was little reason to leave the race if it was impossible to be a spoiler.
The most prominent candidates of the left Huffington and Camejo were greatly benefiting from the lack of an official Democratic candidate sitting at 9 and 4 per cent individually at the start of the race. Both candidates skewered both Davis and the Republicans in the race as dually responsible for the state’s current financial-economic woes. Camejo - “the difference between Davis and the Republicans is that Davis calls himself a Democrat” Huffington – “the last thing California can afford is a Republican Governor who will cut spending programs, and basically perpetuate the disastrous policies of Pete Wilson which, frankly, were largely followed through by Gray Davis” Both candidates cooperated in their campaigns and evidence showed that their points were breaking through to the public as Huffington launched an ad campaign and website to bring in donations pushing her ahead of the lesser Republican candidates and received access to national and local television and radio, to get her anti-corruption agenda across.
The candidates came together for the 1st of 5 debates, 6 major candidates joined, notably not including Riordan who in the lead intended to stay above the fray and not delve into what the media was calling less a circus, and now just a freak show. Davis took place in a separate town hall where he vowed to do a better job and to keep “in better touch with [the voters]”. The candidates distinguished themselves across the political spectrum on immigration and gun laws. Riordan for his part was trying to define himself as the governor waiting in the wings and build a nonpartisan image, just as the Davis campaign levelled the same ads it used against him a year ago to paint the entire Republican roster as Bush conservatives preparing to roll back the states liberal policies. Huffington and Camejo levelled their anti-corruption campaign at Davis, Riordan and Issa pointing to the millions donated to the Davis campaign in the past by tribal groups "It is nothing but legalized bribery, once you accept money from them, there is a compromise.". Davis responded by taking a shot at the Conservatives and Huffington by joking about their values and her accent “We need a governor who represents this state's values and who can pronounce it” The comment backfired, Huffington a Greek immigrant took the comment seriously “What Davis said was an insult to the 9 million Californians who were not born in this country.” And Davis was met with criticism from all sides including Democratic state senators who joined with Republicans to ask for an apology which he provided.
The election's ups and downs narrowed the race, Davis’s NO campaign seemed to widen its lead as Riordan’s hopes fell due to an unenthusiastic campaign that struggled to keep up with the quick-paced election. Issa and Riordan tried to push the other into retiring from the race claiming that Republican infighting was hurting the recalls chances, McClintock the favourite of bedrock conservatives flatly “I’m not tilting at windmills, it takes persistence to achieve anything”, Issa considered retiring himself from the race before changing his mind after he received a boost in media attention from his debate performances sparring with Huffington as well as becoming the target of a smear campaign by militant pro-Israeli groups for both his middle eastern heritage and his views on the Israel Palestine topic (his office and home were evacuated due to a bomb threat), and he surged a few points behind Riordan.
As Davis’s chances narrowed as the election drew closer (his 7-point lead had reduced to 4), the Republican field narrowed, and the NO campaign struggled to find a resonating message. Democrats grew concerned that their strategy of standing united may just result in a very conservative Governor, so many began to grant implicit support to the Huffington campaign as a sort of fallback and as a means to energize voters likely to vote NO, to go to the polling stations. Barbara Boxer said, “We don’t want Riordan or Issa Governor and Democrats after voting against the recall, should consider another candidate in the election” or as a staffer put it “We needed turn out to be high if we wanted a strong mandate to govern”. Huffington’s campaign which had dwarfed Green Party’s Camejo built momentum as the progressive outsider and was aided by celebrity endorsements, grassroots student support and national donations. Huffington was now seen as the only viable Liberal alternative and began a late surge, polling third in the race behind Riordan and Issa and for their part, the conservatives attacked Huffington for her former conservative views including immigration but this also highlighted that Riordan had no defined immigration policy and that both Issa and McClintock looked too conservative for the state.
Candidates Huffington, Riordan and Issa on the campaign trail
In the election's final days, a mad rush ensued, hundreds of thousands of Californians registered to vote including many for the first time, and the candidates rushed to pip each other at the post. Camejo following the agreement of an informal alliance dropped out and endorsed Huffington calling her “the best opportunity to make a change” (Though Camejo was already printed on the ballot) Ueberroth also dropped out polling at just 3 per cent (briefly below Camejo) as the only other moderate in the race Ridoran hoped to gain some steam but the businessman declined to endorse any candidate prior to election day. Riordan tried to frame himself as a fiscally sound moderate highlighting his 8 years as mayor and pivoting to bring enough centrist Democrats and Republicans on board to defeat the other candidates, but his support from the Republican base had dropped dramatically and Issa began trending even with him, a dramatic turnaround.
Huffington’s rise as a prominent candidate in the recall led some Republicans to attack her for hypocrisy, as she ran a campaign that targeted “corporate fat cats get away with not paying their fair share of taxes.” While her own taxes showed she had only paid $771 in income taxes. Huffington claimed this was down to her fluctuating income due to book sales, and corporate losses as well as pointing to the money she paid in property taxes and pointed the blame squarely back on Riordan who she called ‘Mr Special Interest’ and tried to tie his candidacy directly to Enron through donations he received as well as a private meeting between Republicans including Riordan and the former Enron CEO Kenneth Lay to further deregulate California’s energy market, Riordan denied any impropriety.
Going into election day, the uncertainty on who the potential replacement would be seemed to push more into Davis’s camp as support for the recall fell to around 45% and his approval ratings rose out of their dismal lows in the summer possibly due to a particular deadly wildfire season that set in. Polling of the candidates placed Riordan and Issa dancing around 30% with Huffington at 24% However Davis, California and the world were shocked by the turn of events.
With dramatically high turnout across the state, the race was tight but ultimately the voters decided to axe Gray Davis. For the first time in the state’s history, the second successful recall of a U.S. Governor was decided, by a margin of 1.23%, around 97,000 votes. Californians tired of high energy bills, blackouts, deficits and tax increases voted for a change of leadership. Davis who pitched himself as having “experience money can’t buy” was forced to accept that all that experience was not enough for the public “The voters have been good to me, electing me twice as governor, allowing me to serve 35 million people," Davis said on CNN. "I'm very grateful to them, very grateful for the opportunity to try and move the state forward, and whatever their judgment is tonight, I will accept it.”
But the question of who would be replacing Davis was somehow a more momentous moment with the Republican vote spread across three candidates, Arianna Stassinopoulos Huffington, the Greek-born writer, socialite and media personality was elected the first female Governor of California, the nation’s most populous state beating the polls by a 5 point margin to best her Republican rivals. Huffington who ran a dark horse campaign of progressive reform captured 29.9 per cent of the vote, she announced her outsider campaign on the Larry King show utilizing a grassroots movement, national and local media attention and a strategic alliance of left leaning groups to triumph. “I know that I will not be a conventional Governor,” She said in a speech following her victory “But these are not conventional times … Thank you so much to everyone in California for sending a message. That money cannot buy power” The October 7th election was the climax of one of the strangest episodes in U.S. political history. The irony of the recall was not lost on many, dubbed the ‘recall of unintended consequences’ by the Washington Post, that an effort by hard-line conservative Republicans resulted in the removal of a moderate Democrat and the election of a progressive one. A lot of factors had to come together to elect a Governor with less than a third of the vote, Davis’s historical unpopularity, the inability of the Democratic party to present an official challenger, the disarray amongst the Republicans to find a strong candidate, the record turnout aided by local and national events (this occurred at the height of the anti-war movement). The fallout would be vast and ended the political careers of both Davis and Riordan titans of California politics and propelled the newbie Huffington, her rise was tagged the “Greatest ascent of a Greek since Icarus”
Gray Davis concedes in the wake of the recall
2003 California Recall WikiBox
38th Governor of California Arianna Huffington
[1] Schwarzenneger changed the outlook of the race, his jumping in made him the obvious Republican candidate and most Democrats were certain that Davis was toast
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Wow. I’ve never seen an alt-2003 recall on here before and you made it even more bonkers/absurd than the real item. I remember watching the coverage of it on Jay Leno in befuddlement along with my parents in middle school. Thanks for this Time Capsule!
Definitely an interesting outcome. I won't pretend to know too much about her political beliefs, but I do question whether Huffington would have had the credentials to position herself as a true liberal alternative during this election. I know she ran, but I believe this was right around the time that she was transitioning from a Republican to an Independent. Although I guess one could argue that without Schwarzenegger dominating the conservative field, Davis looks more likely to remain in office and consequently Hufffington's election is more of a freak accident driven by a relatively small plurality of voters.
Huffingtons strong opposition to the Bush administration largely redeemed her, but you are right that this is a once in a century fluke
Honestly as much as I like this alt campaign, Arnold staying focused on acting is the biggest plus.
I wonder if an invasion of Afghanistan will still be possible in this timeline, I think it’s really only a matter of time before Al-Qaeda does something that forced the US to invade.
All right, will need to try and find it. I note it because alot of people underestimate the punch it would've had in a 9/11-less timeline, especially when we take it in context with other econimic problems of the time like with Qwest and the like. When the Great Recession hits, people are gonna look back to the financial madhouse that was Enron and say "this is where it all started" and thus the Recession viewed as capping off a bunch of financial maltruance, angering the public in a different way than OTL.
Absolutely wonderful work here so far!
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Thank you so much
The Enron scandal was used to rake Bush (and especially Cheney) over the coals, the Democratic congress investigated it but have stopped short of going after Bush directly.
Makes sense. I imagine some of the other financial troubles of OTL during this time happened as well?
The early 00's recession still occurs but is a bit shorter without the shock 9/11, Afghanistan and Iraq brought to the system