At dinner tonight, Chrissy and I got into the subject of the Recall and how disgusted it makes us.  And sure enough, they went and did it.  The Terminator is now Governator (and damn the use of a cliched nickname for a cliched candidate!)

I mean, at least as far as Republicans go he's pretty liberal, but still.  The problems the recall was cited over - namely the financial crisis and the power issues - were happening last year.  And they re-elected Governor Davis then - I remember, I was there that week!  But we now live in an era where if you don't like how an election turned out, a relatively small number of people can work to get it overturned.

I know I know..."it was a fair election" I'm sure will be heard, along with those citing "the people have spoken, and Gray Davis lost."  Except he didn't lose.  He didn't win either.  He wasn't on the ballot.

In a recall election like this farce held tonight, the sitting Governor doesn't get an entry on the ballot.  Instead the vote is two parts - 1) Should the election be recalled and 2) Vote for the person to replace.  And because of this, the sitting governor requires a majority of votes to stay in office, yet the successor can gain office with a plurality.

And beyond that, don't recalls make voting rather meaningless in states where they are allowed?  Why bother putting any thought into who makes the best candidate when odds are a small number of people in the opposition will force another election within a year?  Do you really think it will stop with this one?

I fear Pandora's Box has been opened in California.  A recall of the Governator is already being tossed around (perhaps a joint ticket of Edward Furlong and Nick Stahl can run against him).  And after that another...and another...and another.  Until eventually, inevitably, the law is changed and they are no longer allowed.