Left Coast Fun Alert!
Rich Lowry at Townhall.com - First terminate the unions:

If you were to distill all that is worst about American politics into one man, he would have perfectly combed hair and he would answer to "Gray." A cautious political hack whose only strength is selling out to unions and trial lawyers, Gov. Gray Davis is Bill Clinton without the conscience, Al Gore without the charm.

Bwahahaha!

It would be a mistake, however, to overpersonalize his failings. The populist upheaval in California is the result of a chapter in state government that will be compared to the robber baron era. It is a tale of how unions and trial lawyers can ruin a state's economy with assistance from a very willing governor.

And despite the recall, it's going to get worse before it gets better as Davis starts pandering to anyone who might get him enough votes to save his job. Matt Welch in the Los Angeles Daily News - Desperate Davis rekindles long-smoldering debate:

The campaign to recall Gray Davis has proven to be a godsend for an unlikely group: illegal immigrants who drive illegally.

In mid-July, even before the special Oct. 7 election was called, our hated governor caved into Latino politicians' single biggest legislative demand: to support a new version of a bill he vetoed just last year that would give undocumented aliens the special privilege of obtaining a California driver's license.

"My expectation is we'll get a bill this year," sponsor Gil Cedillo, a state senator representing parts of East Los Angeles and Pasadena, told La Opinion.

Cedillo, whose relationship with Gov. Davis soured after last year's veto, has discovered impressive new enthusiasm for fighting the recall. "This is a movement put together by extremists in the state who want to set back government," he told the Spanish-language daily. "It's disruptive, and it's a bad precedent. We have to commit ourselves to fight it."

Now there's a surprise! I wonder if illegal aliens have to get auto insurance too?

But while we're having fun, check this out - Dem. Candidates Blast Republicans Over California:

PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) - Democratic presidential candidates blasted California's recall campaign against Gov. Gray Davis on Monday, calling it part of a larger Republican assault on the U.S. electoral process.

At a political forum near the Liberty Bell, seven of the nine Democrats vying for the right to oppose President Bush in 2004 said California was being swept by the same right-wing tactics used against Democrats in Florida and Texas and during the impeachment of former President Clinton.

"This is an attack on the institutions of our government. That's what Republicans do," U.S. Rep. Dick Gephardt of Missouri told hundreds of union leaders at Philadelphia's National Constitution Center.

More political Tourette's syndrome from little Dick, but it's interesting to see the others join in. The funny part is that the recall and initiatives/referenda processes used to be touted as sterling examples of reforms in the electoral process brought on by the American Progressive movement of the first part of the 20th century. The idea was to let citizens take back government from worthless politicians beholden to special interests. I guess it all depends on which worthless politicians and which special interests are in danger of losing their stranglehold on government.

Can you say two-faced pond scum? I knew you could.