California Insider

The Bee's Margaret Talev reports that Republican Rep. Darrell Issa of Vista has jumped into the Davis recall fray, announcing he will help raise money for the drive to unseat the governor and offer himself as a candidate to replace him. What Issa doesn't say is whether he intends to spend any of his own substantial wealth on the effort. But that seems the logical next step. Issa's decision adds a whole new element to the recall, which was not off to a particularly impressive start. His personal wealth and name recognition (he ran for the Senate in 1998) add credibility to the fledgling recall drive and might give Republican activists a reason to work harder collecting signatures. Proponents have until Sept. 2 to gather about 900,000 valid signatures to place the recall on the ballot.