California Insider

A Weblog by
Sacramento Bee Columnist Daniel Weintraub

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July 30, 2003

Craziness

Having trouble keeping up? Don't blame you. These are crazy times in California. Here is some of what happened Tuesday:

The Assembly, after the speaker locked the members in overnight, passed a budget to end a 29-day partisan stalemate.

In San Francisco, top Democrats met to either a) shore up their unity in the fight to save Gray Davis or b) figure out a strategy to offer a replacement candidate while not dooming their man to defeat.

In a related development, two Democratic members of Congress –Cal Dooley and Loretta Sanchez – called on U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein to enter the fray as a back-up option should Davis lose. They were the first elected Democrats to call publicly for a party candidate to replace Gray.

In Los Angeles, top Republicans from opposing campaigns met to plot recall strategy, hoping to increase their chances of dumping Davis while reserving the right to savage each other in the campaign to replace him.

In Brentwood, former Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan met with strategists to help shape a possible campaign for governor and prepared to accept the baton from his friend, Arnold Schwarzenegger. Down the street, columnist Arianna Huffington met with advisers to consider her own potential as an independent candidate in the replacement election.

In San Diego, a federal court changed the rules of the recall vote, deciding that voters can participate in the replacement election even if they express no opinion on the question of whether Davis should be recalled.

In San Francisco, the state Supreme Court took up the question of whether a replacement election is even necessary. This is the same idea floated briefly and then dropped by Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante. Bustamante would become governor if Davis were recalled and there was no election to replace him.

Presumably, the pace of developments will slow once the filing deadline passes Aug. 9 and the courts work their way through the challenges. It better. We cannot keep this up.