Could Davis beat the recall?

Kevin Roderick • July 24 2003 12:45 PM

Mickey Kaus takes what I think (not being a recall junkie) is the contrarian view and suggests it is likely that Gray Davis beats the rap. He also predicts it will be a high turnout election, with or without the latest Ward Connerly race measure on the ballot.

When the pollster for a major pro-recall group says it's "too soon to call the outcome" of the recall--even if he's a publicity-seeking pollster like Frank Luntz--that means a defeat of the recall by Davis remains a distinct possibility (I'd even say probability).

Clicking on links today leads to a speculative comment on Matthew Yglesias' blog that Mickey's NYT bashing stems from the paper never having hired him (and Andrew Sullivan's from having been fired). Clicking on that link leads to a New York blog (talkingdog.com) observing on Davis' un-California vow to fight the recall like a "Bengal tiger."

Odd choice, as that team plays in Cincinatti. [sic] How about a "Shark", or a "Sleeping Giant", or an "Artful Dodger", or a "Golden State Warrior"-- some local color to preserve the Sacramento King. If only he had waged such a fight against the absurd energy regulation system that led to California's energy crisis. But oh well. Water over the hydro-dam, as they say!

Meanwhile, the Power Line blog says that Hugh Hewitt speculated on the radio that Schwarzenegger had decided to pass. It's not on Hewitt's blog. But he's rallying his troops and predicts (no permalink, scroll down) that the L.A. Times will be the "chief cheerleader for Davis."

I may group the recall media sites and selected blogs together on the right side tonight, as an easy reference. I won't be covering the recall ins and outs -- no time for that. I'll just post occasional links or observations if something strikes me as interesting to this audience, mostly in or about the media.

More: State & nat'l politics