GLIB RECALL REDICTION

[mburbank]

While Schwarzenewhatisis will clearly have won, the YES/NO on recall itself will be well within the statistical margin of error. The apparent loosing side will demand a recount. The apparent winning side will sue to stop it.

With no clear outcome Gray Davis will inist he is Governor pending a decision. Shawarczennigeret will sue to aaume the governors mansion until a decision is made. Gray will cuntersue.

California will tumble into a political Limbo which will have to be decided by the supreme court. The exact same split that issued a riuling in Bush V. Gore will give Arnold Governorship, but not before there hve been multiple riots.

[sspadowsky]

Shortly thereafter, Ahnold will plunge the state into an irreparable deficit, and the state of California will be purchased by Microsoft.

[mburbank]

This confuse anyone?

http://img.slate.msn.com/media/1/2057072/122967/2085063/2089305/2089308/Main_Sample_Ballot_A.gif

[Perndog]

I would so vote for the sumo wrestler. :rock

[mburbank]

This is only the first page of the ballot, I can't find any of the others. I'd be torn between voting for Michael Jackson and Brooke Adams, becuase they both have celebrity names but are not the celebrities themselves.

[FS]

People have to find their candidate among 135 randomized names. There's no way this can't fail.

[The One and Only...]

Why the hell is Ken Kamidi listed when the major Libertarian candidate is Ned Roscoe?

BTW, I think it would be hilarious if he were elected. It's not that hard to imagine, either, considering that one of California's cities has the highest percentage of Libertarians in the country...

http://www.smokersparty.com/

[mburbank]

That page is only page one of the ballot. I don't even know how many pages long it is. The order of candidates was randomized by first letter, then that order was rotated by one letter for each county.

[The One and Only...]

Why didn't they do something simplistic, like, you know, put them in alphabetical order?

[O71394658]

Screw Arnold. Sumo for governor!

[mburbank]

Because statistical analysis shows a large number of people always vote for the first name on the list. It's the same reason your yellow pages is filled with AAA plumbers and electricians.

That's why they randomize and rotate. Just like me.

[Carnivore]

Angelyne the "entertainer" is obviously a stripper. She gets my vote.

[mburbank]

I'm a Garry Coleman man, myself.

[kahljorn]

I voted for Jesus.

[Vibecrewangel]

STOP MAKING FUN OF MY STATE AND THE VERY IMPORTANT CANDIDATES ON THIS WELL DESIGNED BALLOT.

[kahljorn]

I didn't vote because I'm a rebel.

[The One and Only...]

I could be wrong, but didn't Arnold win?

[KevinTheOmnivore]

According to exit polls, yes. Actual precinct reports? Not yet.

[AChimp]

When it is announced that Arnie has won, I will watch my Terminator Special Edition DVD in celebration.

[Drev]

Start watching it, AChimp. Start watching it. :)

He won by a landslide!

[ItalianStereotype]

SEE MY SWEATY MUSCLES! LOOK AT DEM, YOU WILL LOOK AT DEM YOU LITTLE PEOPLE! I AM DE GUVNUH!

[The_Rorschach]

I voted for Tom McClintock.

Fuck everyone in California who voted for Arnold because they thought he'd win. We're not fucking gambling on political predictions, there's no fucking payoff for picking the "winning" man, we're supposed to be making sure our individual voices are heard, and from the cacophany of multiplicity an answer should be found which best represents what is most acceptable to all. Fuck this state, and fuck this entire fucking nation.

Anyone who doesn't vote shouldn't fucking rate, especially when it comes to political conversations because they have shown themselves lapse in their civic duties.

[Protoclown]

I didn't vote, because I don't live in California. thx

[FS]

We're not fucking gambling on political predictions, there's no fucking payoff for picking the "winning" man, we're supposed to be making sure our individual voices are heard, and from the cacophany of multiplicity an answer should be found which best represents what is most acceptable to all.

That's a thing that puzzles me around presidential elections, when people feel like they have to vote either Republican or Democratic because their vote "doesn't matter" otherwise. It's as if they're saying they don't deserve democracy.

[KevinTheOmnivore]

I was (and still am) a big critic of this recall process, I personally just wish that it took more signatures for ballot access like in other states, and that they used an IRV system of voting to judge the winner (still probably would've been Arnold due to his popularity, but we'll never know).

However, I must admit that the results of this election are really interesting. They've put "the Left" into a bit of a frenzy. On one hand, the victory of Schwarzenegger looks like a victory for "the people," true populism at it's best (it was afterall one of the populists who pushed the recall process into effect in Cali.). On the other side, as Ror has pointed out, it sort of speaks poorly for democracy. In today's Boston Globe, Robert Kuttner stated that "...in a sense, Hiram Johnson had a point. If elected officials want to keep the confidence of voters, they had better get serious about addressing real problems...Unfortunately, Johnson's remedy is allowing disgusted voters to wreck democracy itself."

I'm glad Ror voted his conscience and voted for McClintock. :)

I do enjoy the slight conundrum this has created for the conservative ideologues in the Republican Party. People like the pill popper Rush Limbaugh supported McClintock, didn't they...? Schwarzenegger is a prime example of the conflict in two-party electoral politics today. On one hand, these parties are self-perpetuating bureacracies, where winning comes long before ideology or conviction. Schwarzenegger isn't the Christian Coalition/socially conservative type that wants to run the Party. He's more like the economic libertarian/socially liberal type, and he's a perfect fit, IMO, for any kind of Republican power in California (now whjether or not he has any real policy in mind is yet to be seen). Schwarzenegger can win votes, but he may not be "winning one for the team." He may in fact be changing the meaning of Republicanism in California, simultaneously expanding the party, while at the same time (in a sense) liberalizing it. :)

[The_Rorschach]

"I didn't vote, because I don't live in California. thx"

I was speaking in general terms. For instance, I was having a conversation with a girl yesterday who informed be she'd read an article which stated that Arnold S. didn't even have a consistant voting record, having only cast a ballot in 11 of the past 25 years. People who don't take part in the process, I believe, have given up their right to speak out against it.

And to you Kevin. . .For the most part I agree with you, however, it should be noted that the outcome you predict rests largely upon how well Arnold S. performs during the remainder of this term. I've been predicting a schism taking place amongst concervatives for nearly a year now, and if Arnold is successful, I believe it will act as the catalyst we've been waiting for. There will be the dyed in the wool Conservatives like me and then a newer more moderate branch of Conversatives whom may rise up and hijack the Republican Party. I believe the more moderate cons, those with Libertarian leanings if you will, reflect most aptly what the people desire now, however people are woefully short sighted and I don't expect to change my own views anytime soon.

[kahljorn]

Just wait a few years and it will be ARNOLD FOR PRESIDENT. It's happened before!

[KevinTheOmnivore]

Not without an amendment there won't be.

And Ror, I agree with you 100%. If Arnold can't capitalize off of this energy, it'll die as quickly as it started. If he can at least "appear" to pull Cali. out of the recession, and again, can at least "appear" to stimulate business and job growth, he will be canonized. If this happens, it could create your schism in the Republican Party.

[Abcdxxxx]

I keep waiting for the bad Arnold imitations to die down so people can start all "the upside" talk about how this was good for Democracy because it got people caring about an election again. People were passionate compared to past elections.... I heard about lines around the corner down at SF city hall. Impressive numbers numbers with voter turn out blah blah.

The other "upside" I actually find kinda amusing is that a Republican candidate won, and the Right are flipping out over the Kennedy clan "reinventing" themselves and taking over the party.

[kahljorn]

Who won?

[Anonymous]

I HOPE YOU LEFT ROOM FOR MY FIST BECAUSE I AM GOING TO RAM IT INTO YOUR STOMACH

[The One and Only...]

I don't think Arnold is extreme enough to be called an economic libertarian.

I think he's more of the socially liberal branch.

I agree with Kevin and Ror about voting, since the "voting for someone who actually has a chance" philosophy is what has kept 3rd parties out of power.

[mburbank]

Kev; Did you know that the amendment you speak of is currently being actively pushed by Orin Hatch? I'm not making that up.

All that aside, laughter aside, disdain aside, I do think like any other elected official Arnold deserves a chance. It will certainly be interesting.

[kahljorn]

*REMEMBER REAGAN*

*insert ragen pictures*

WE LOVED YOU REAHAN

I'm so drunk :(

[KevinTheOmnivore]

Kev; Did you know that the amendment you speak of is currently being actively pushed by Orin Hatch? I'm not making that up.

Yeah, but I find it unlikely. I mean, personally, I think I favor the amendment. I mean, if the "American dream" extends to the private sector, why not the public one...? I mean, we have always feared Catholics in the oval office, because it was some how assumed they'd be taking their stepping orders from Rome. I think the notion that an Austrian born male might have "mixed loyalties" is just as absurd as the previous argument....

[AChimp]

Imagine what would happen if a Canadian became president! :eek