No more recalls!

The California recall election was like an awful movie, 77 days long with a predictable ending. \nAnd boy, I'm glad this whole damn thing is over.\nI was rooting for Gov. Gray Davis to pull through, but I'll be really honest with you: I really didn't care since I'm not a California resident (I was flipping back and forth between recall coverage and the Cubs-Marlins game, and I think subconsciously I just wanted the underdog to win).\nAlthough Davis is about as warm and friendly as an empty dorm room, if I were a Californian I would have voted against the recall simply because a recall should be used only for serious derelictions of duty.\nWhich, of course, it wasn't.\nThe easy answer would be to point to the financiers of the recall, the sleazy minds behind bringing down an already-embattled governor, but they would have gotten nowhere if it hadn't been for the media.\nAfter all, this is California, the most reliably crazy of all the crazies, and it had all the makings for a dramatic election night.\nIt was a hang-on-to-your-gubernatorial-seat brawl between a politician who can't act (then-Gov. Davis) and an actor-turned-politician (current Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger)\nThere were faulty voting machines and lawsuits and miles of red legal tape attempting to postpone the entire recall. That was an interesting mini-plot, but also just one more inconvenience.\nIt had sexual misconduct allegations. It had illegal campaign donations. And you know things are down-and-dirty when Adolf Hitler's name is thrown around.\nThe media wanted you to believe the end to the recall would be great, or probably shocking -- otherwise, they'd have no ratings.\nBut in the end, the results weren't decided by the narrowest of margins, and it turned out pretty much as everyone guessed it would. It was not "the next Florida." It wasn't even close. For all the hype, the ending was more lackluster than blockbuster. \nI had to turn back to baseball. At least there was suspense over at the 11-inning Cubs game.\nThat same voter anger still looms, and it's not going away any time soon. I bet many incumbent politicians up for reelection in 2004 are starting to feel uneasy about the winds of politics.\nOf course, anti-recall forces are already wondering how they can counter the governor-elect. One of the ideas being thrown around: That's right! You guessed it! A possible recall on Arnold!California needs another recall like the United States needs, well, another California. \nLook, I'm not an Arnold fan by any means, but my advice to people who might try to bring up a recall on Arnold: "Please, just let it go, and take the high road, you morons." \n Arnold will succeed or fail on his own. No one, not even Arnold, knows what kind of governor Arnold will be. I certainly don't think he's going to magically solve the state's massive problems which, at this point, are well beyond immediate repair. \nWe can't go back in time and fix the damage that has been done. Arnold is California's choice. So let's live with Arnold.\nAnd, no more recalls, please. If a recall effort for Arnold picks up, it's going to be the type of movie I will never, ever go see.\nI mean, I still want the time I spent on the first one back.