Environmental Press # 290

Subj: NIGHTLINE: Fun in the Sun
Date: 7/23/2003 11:14:48 AM Pacific Daylight Time
From: listeditor@abcnews.go.com
To: Voiceforveterans@aol.com

Nightline Daily E-Mail
July 23, 2003

TONIGHT'S SUBJECT: All jokes aside, something new is happening in California. It now appears certain that the governor, Gray Davis, will face a recall election sometime in the next couple of months. And aside from the spectacle, there are real implications for the rest of the country.

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As long-time readers of this email know, I grew up in Southern California. I still consider myself a Californian, even though I haven't lived there for almost 15 years. So if I sound a little defensive about my state, that's why. We have a conference call each morning in which we talk about the broadcast for that night, and in talking about the California recall, there were plenty of jokes.

 

And, I hate to admit it, there is some justification for that. This has the potential of being something of a mess. Today or tomorrow, the Secretary of State will announce that opponents of the governor have gathered enough signatures to force a recall vote. This comes after California has been battered economically, and the governor is being blamed by many voters. But there are also national politics involved too. California is a key to any winning presidential effort, and California has been voting Democratic in the last couple of elections. If the Republicans could take the governorship, that would be a huge win for them. Now Democrats, at least some of them, argue that the Republicans, and this recall election effort has been underwritten by a Republican Congressman, are trying to undo an election that they lost.

Now it gets confusing. On the ballot, assuming that this goes forward, is a simple question, recall the governor or not. But if you vote to recall, then you get to pick from a list of candidates. There would likely be a large number of them, and all that is needed to win is a plurality. That means that the new governor could be elected by a tiny percentage of the voters. Add to the mix Arnold Schwarzenegger, who is expected to run, and things do start getting a little weird.

So aside from the theater value of all this, why should the rest of the country care? Well, there is the old sense that California sets the agenda, that what happens out there will spread to the rest of the country. With so many states facing serious budget crises, will the recall fever spread? And as I said before, the impact of California politics on the national scene cannot be underestimated. So ABC News correspondent Judy Muller will report from California, and Chris Bury will anchor tonight. We're still working out who our guests will be. It's a great story, and I'll try not to get too defensive about all this.

Wednesday, July 23, 2003

We hope you'll join us.

Leroy Sievers and the Nightline Staff
ABCNEWS Washington bureau

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