Date:17/08/2003 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2003/08/17/stories/2003081701481200.htm

International

California Governor on the way out?

By Sridhar Krishnaswami

Washington AUG. 16. California's historic recall election will have "only" 135 candidates and perhaps the one name that is not on the ballot is that of the Governor, Gray Davis, himself, whose attempt to have his name included in the list did not succeed after the State Supreme Court refused to hear his petition.

The long list of candidates for the recall election of October 7 has a number of known politicians and film personalities; and heading the pack is the Austrian-born Hollywood superstar, Arnold Schwarzeneggar. Also in the fray are a noted columnist, a porn czar, a sumo wrester, a bounty hunter and a billboard model. Of the ones in the "ordinary" category who did not make it is a 100-year-old who paid the $-3500 filing fee but failed to turn in the required 65 signatures.

The logistics of running this recall election, the first ever for the State and only the second in the history of America, is truly daunting; and one impression is that there is going to be so much confusion that the final results could take days to be announced. Of the candidates approved include at least 50 Democrats, 42 Republicans and about 30 Independents.

Some have argued that what is happening in the nation's largest State is nothing but a "circus" and one that mocks the essence of democratic institutions and processes. But the political stakes for the Republicans and Democrats are so high that neither party is taking the event lightly.

The White House tried to have it both ways — staying out of the controversy by saying that it was a `State' matter and still betting on Mr. Schwarzeneggar. But the President, George W. Bush, knows that a win for the Hollywood superstar will boost his political chances of getting the State with the largest electoral votes in 2004. In 2000, Mr. Bush lost California to the Democratic candidate, Al Gore.

Mr. Davis, who is seeing his approval ratings at an all-time low, is not leaving anything to chance and has said that he has turned to the former President, Bill Clinton, for advice. Mr. Schwarzeneggar's campaign has said that it has tapped the billionaire investor, Warren Buffet, as a financial advisor.