“I’m embarrassed to be called a Californian,” said Ryan Wackerman (CAS ‘06) as he reacted to the results of Tuesday’s election to recall Gov. Gray Davis of California. “How did this happen? Did everyone with an ounce of dignity sleep in for the vote?”
The recall, which was held this Tuesday, ousted Davis from the governorship and replaced him with movie star and novice politician Arnold Schwarzenegger.
The recall has certainly received its fair share of attention on campus. This Monday government professor Charles King brought the issue into the classroom by holding a mock election among the students in his Comparative Political Systems class, who voted to have Davis recalled.
Attention to the issue also extended into Georgetown social life. On Tuesday night, the College Democrats marked the occasion by throwing a party, during which they followed the exit polls, watched Schwarzenegger’s classic movie Total Recall and awaited the results of the election.
Georgetown students, Californian or not, have opinions about the recall that clearly transcend party affiliation. Many members of the College Republicans and College Democrats seem to waver on their respective party’s standard position.
Murphy Gallagher (CAS ‘06), a board member of the College Republicans and a native of California, is emphatically against the recall. Mary Gibson (CAS ‘05), President of the College Democrats said that she leans in favor of the recall.
Both Gibson and Gallagher indicated, however, that within their organizations, opinion is divided. “Among Republicans on campus, at least the ones from California, I know a lot that are against a recall and I know a lot that are for a recall. It’s really split down the middle,” said Gallagher.
The mixed opinion seems to be more about the recall process than about the candidates. “This isn’t really a partisan issue,” said Gallagher. “It’s a dangerous legal issue. It really raises some very basic questions about democracy and brings up some concerns of things that could go wrong with democracy. I think a lot of people see that-Republican or Democrat,” he said. Clyde Wilcox, a professor in the Government Department, said the election shows the consequences of bad institutional design. “What worries me the most is the way the process unfolded. One wealthy Republican funds the recall petitions. Then candidates emerge at the last minute, and really are not fully vetted. The allegations about Schwarzenegger are surfacing now and he is saying that it is last minute; but this is because, of course, he has been campaigning for a short time. It simply is not a deliberative process,” he said.
Wackerman, a native of California, is ready to sever his ties with the state. “There has to be an underground band of idiots that all agreed to go out and vote today, because I haven’t talked to a single happy person from my home state. Home state? I can’t believe I said that! I use the term very loosely now.”
Gallagher, who identified himself as a conservative, said that the recall of an official compromises the validity of the electoral process. “I’m a big believer in voter responsibility and just personal accountability as it stands by itself. That’s one of the core values of conservatism. I think that if a population decides to elect someone, they should be held accountable for that vote. If they elected Gray Davis, and he turned out to be a lousy governor, I think they should have to live with it for four years,” he said.
Others such as Gibson, however, feel that recalling Davis was necessary for the financial stability of the state. “When somebody’s doing something so wrong that people will go through all the trouble of getting petitions and bringing up law suits to recall a leader, there’s something wrong,” said Gibson.
Wackerman said that the recall process indicated that Schwarzenegger was the best man for the job. ” I would rather have a governor that knows he screwed up and wants to fix his political career than one who decided he wanted to become a politician a month ago and will inevitably screw up too,” he said.
“The new governor bought his position and only won because of the whirlwind approach. Arnold never would have won in a real election.”