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[bryant]

The California recall election is definitely the most hope-inspiring thing to happen to third party politics since Perot. Here’s a theory laying out how a libertarian could win it all.

Look, like it or not, the whole line about winning with 15-20% of the vote is wishful thinking. Either the Democrats or the Republicans are going to come together behind one candidate. The winning candidate is going to have upwards of 35% of the vote.

I’m not entirely sure how I feel about all this excitement at the prospect of winning an election with such a small percentage of the vote, anyhow. It seems uncomfortably like putting political interests ahead of serving the people, which is at least one thing democracy has going for it.

Comments

[eyelessgame.livejournal.com]

I know exactly how I feel about it, see, because my children are attending California public schools, and I have to drive on California roads, deal with California felons and California-regulated businesses and professionals. Some of my friends work for California state government; others won't eat without California unemployment assistance and won't stay healthy without California-regulated health care.

And what I want from my state government is for it not to be a circus and not to be somebody's pet third-party jerk-off fantasy. I want it to /govern/ because it affects my life.

The recall rivals Prop 13 in terms of shoveling a new fecal layer on top of everything in this state. It really doesn't matter who becomes governor if we recall this one -- s/he won't be able to govern. People think it can't get worse? Just wait.

[bryant]

Um.

I was being disapproving of the Greens and the Libertarians. I think it's counter to the principles of democracy to try and win an election with a mere 20% of the vote -- they're saying "we can't get a majority vote but we might be able to get in without majority support."

When I say "I don't know how I feel about it," the antecedent is "the prospect of winning an election with such a small percentage of the vote." It is not "the recall election as a whole."

Your post reads to me as though you're insulting me for not knowing how I feel about the recall, but I didn't say that; I said something rather different. And I have friends in California too. I'm quite aware that there are real consequences to the recall.

I'm not sure if you meant to imply that I wasn't aware, but by responding to my post with such strong contrast, you implied it whether you meant to or not.

[eyelessgame.livejournal.com]

Sorry - you wound up being a convenient outlet for the vitriol I was aiming at the link you provided. I didn't make that clear, and I do apologize. I'm defensive about it -- my state looks really really dumb, it's shooting itself directly in the foot yet again, and I'm embarrassed that we're such a laughingstock.

But none of it was directed at you.

[huaman.livejournal.com]

It's hard to not spew vitriol about anything and everything to do with California politics, if you ask me. Why? Because, as you note, our state looks really dumb. It has for ages and ages, not just since the ridiculous budget deficit and the recall. And you know what? A whole lot of California really *IS* that dumb, and we should be embarrassed about it. Unfortunately the people with the sense to be embarrassed about it are outnumbered by the masses of pure reactionaries of every stripe.

California, culturally and politically, seems to me to have a strong tendency towards looking at every situation that it ever faces, and rather than dealing with anything, saying, "Well, what we need to do is pass a law about that," and then sitting back and saying "How can there still be a problem? We passed a law. And it was well-intentioned, and we were trying to be nice, and everything." It's like everybody wants there to be some sort of legal or political action that can be taken and presto! everything's just awesome.

Personally, I have a really hard time trying to figure out why I'm still here in California. The obvious answer, of course, is I've got a stable job. But I don't know if I'll be able to look myself in the eye if my kid grows up to be a modern Californian, and I can't really see a way this state's likely to become sane or a really enjoyable place to live, in the foreseeable future.

So, how do I feel about the recall, as a Californian? It's hard to pin down, to be honest. I'm tremendously disappointed in California democrats on the whole, and believe the majority of California's democratic politicos are doing the best they can to create a complete nanny state that's incapable of functioning at all, by playing on people's reactionary responses. So everything about the recall seems very California to me, and it's just hard for me not to feel complete blanket disgust about still living here, and I just have this sense of, "Oh, what's the point of any of it, anyway? The state's just screwed and it's not about to get un-screwed in a hurry."