With the rather glaring exception of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and a few hardcore rightwingers, nobody in California wants to have another statewide election this year. Just since 2003, we’ve had the gubernatorial recall primaries, the recall election, the presidential primaries, the presidential election, plus all municipalities have had primaries and most have had run-offs.
And now we have to do it again in November – and it’s going to cost us an additional $50 million, to boot.
What started out earlier this year as ambivalence is quickly turning into antipathy both toward the special election and the man who called it.
In the new Field Poll, 57 percent of voters say they want the governor to call the election off.
Disapproval of the governor’s performance is at 52 percent – a flip from the 65 percent who approved of his performance in August 2004.
One political expert said, “Usually when you have large declines in a job performance rating of an elected official, it’s in relation to some external force. … It could be the economy; with Gray Davis it was the electricity crisis … but this is of his own making.”
