Why the recall succeeded, and why I voted for it

If you can stand one more word of political retrospect -- they're spending an hour with Green Party candidate Peter Camejo on a local NPR station right now, so I don't see why I shouldn't join in -- let me say why I voted to recall the duly elected governor of California, the aptly named Gray Davis.

First of all, almost all of those who voted for Davis last year did so holding our noses, as a straight-party Democratic commitment. The same went for Al Gore: We didn't like him, but the alternative was (and is) much, much, much worse. Davis, who is the only man alive who can make Al Gore appear charismatic and animated merely by standing next to him, wasn't to blame for the lousy economy then and he isn't to blame now. But it would be nice to have someone in office who ever had an original idea.

Then this story appeared on Sept. 12: Davis denies parole for woman who killed her abuser. This was the last straw for Cris, and I had to agree with her. Republican coup or no, this guy Davis was simply a waste of space.

So we voted for the recall. And I suspect lots of people had similar reasons.

But why, Cris asked me yesterday, throwing down the newspaper in disgust, did so many people vote for Ar-nold Schwartz-en-eg-ger?

Here's my theory: People nowadays are generally suffering from a fairly high level of anxiety, about everything from the economy to saturated fats; this nervousness translates into hair-trigger tempers, bad moods, and a need to stifle these feelings by overeating, overspending, driving too fast, smoking cigarettes, watching too much television, and generally doing things that give a momentary sense of relief from the anxiety. This is why people buy cheesy snack crackers, watch "Law and Order" for three hours straight, and surf the web for free porn -- they want distraction from their ... well, misery is too strong a word. Say, malaise.

So people are habituated to grabbing for the closest shiny new thing in hopes that it will give them satisfaction. And Arnold, scary and glamorous in a peculiarly southern California way, was just one more shiny thing to grab at.

Looked at this way, surely Cruz Bustamante, though he tried mightily to escape from the shadow of the Democratic machine he's spent his life serving, as has Davis, did not have nearly the appeal of Arnold. That's why the "fringe candidates" got so much attention. In fact, Arnold was a fringe candidate. He was merely a very famous and well-financed one.