In Trenches of a Rebellion

Stewart Soto walked out of the Chino Wal-Mart on Saturday, glanced at a folding table near the exit and read a sign that made him jerk his shopping cart to a halt.

“Mad About the Car Tax? Sign Here. Recall Davis,” the sign read.

In the two seconds that it took Soto to absorb the message, Eric Hogan and Michael Alquist noticed the interest in his eyes. Foot soldiers in the campaign to recall Gov. Gray Davis, they have been working the store’s exit for four days and are studied in the slight twist of the head that often indicates curiosity.

“Have you signed the recall petition?” they belted out. At first, Soto, 33, hesitated. He looked at his wife, then back at the two men.

“OK, I’m going to do my part,” said Soto, of Pasadena, a lifelong Democrat who voted for Davis in the last election. He signed his name and joined an estimated 695,000 other Californians who have called for Davis’ removal from office.

Soto, who has worked as a lobbyist representing injured people involved in workers’ compensation issues, said the governor has “sold his soul to special interests.” He’s not sure who he’d vote for in a recall, he said. But, “it can’t get much worse.”

Nearby, petition gatherers Susan and Karl Williamsen were in the middle of a three-day stint Saturday outside Sam’s Club, another piece of the Wal-Mart empire.

Gil Apodaca of Diamond Bar had a different sort of reaction to their calls for his signature. “You’ve got to be kidding,” he told Susan. “I don’t want to recall the governor.”

Apodaca was one of the few bold enough to actually refuse the Williamsens aloud. Most people not wanting to sign the petition simply ignored the couple as they left the store.

As he loaded groceries into his SUV, Apodaca, 54, explained that he was a lifelong Democrat. Democrats, he said, “spend a lot, but it’s out of concern for the people.”

Although the vast majority of shoppers passed by the recall tables without a glance, enough responded to their calls to keep the petition gatherers busy throughout the day, sometimes juggling three to five people at a time.

Most voters were quick to express pointed opinions about the governor, the economy and California’s political destiny, speaking in phrases that came off like sound bites from politicians, sometimes veering toward cliche.

Davis, said Peggy Linder, 74, is “robbing Peter to pay Paul.” The Chino Hills woman said she signed the recall petition Saturday because she was upset that the governor’s budget proposal calls for deep education cuts.

“I don’t like the way he’s making schools suffer,” Linder said.

“What you’re seeing is ... Californians coming together,” said Bill Palmer, 57, a registered independent. As they left Wal-Mart, which is in the massive Chino Spectrum Towne Center, he and his wife, Pam, 54, of Chino Hills, signed the petition.

Bill views the effort as nonpartisan. “This is democracy in action,” he said. “The reason why we feel good about it is that we can recall someone who is not doing well.”

Across the state, recall supporters took advantage of the long weekend to make a final push for the last 200,000 signatures needed to force a recall election. About 500 people gathered signatures Saturday, said a recall campaign official.

As of last week, supporters said that they had about 75% of the 897,158 signatures needed and that they hoped to collect all the necessary petitions before July 16. That would provide enough time for the signatures to be hand-counted and verified before Sept. 4, the last day that a special November election could be ordered by Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante.

The Wal-Mart, said Alquist, was like the “town plaza” of 2003, a prime gathering place. He and his partner estimated they gathered about 500 signatures Saturday -- bringing their four-day total from the store to near 1,400.

Nearby, the Williamsens met with similar success outside Sam’s Club. They said they had collected about 1,000 signatures in the last week and estimated that they had stopped about one in 30 shoppers.

While Hogan and Alquist practiced a wait-and-see strategy, the Williamsens were more aggressive.

“Do you want to fire Gray Davis for tripling your car taxes?” Susan Williamsen called out to passing shoppers.

Her words made one man stop, squint, read the Williamsens’ sign -- “Rescue California/Recall Davis” -- and walk toward the table. “Yeah, yeah, I can sign it,” he said.

The cost of the recall effort was incentive enough for Scott Adams, 49, of Diamond Bar, to refuse to sign. The California secretary of state has estimated that a special fall election could cost the state at least $25 million.

“Where are we going to get $30 million, when we are already in the hole?” Adams asked. “It’s not worth the money.”

After offering a litany of complaints, including the closure of some of his favorite California fishing waters, Mike Harris, 48, of Ontario made sure he minded his manners after he signed.

“Thanks for listening to my frustration,” he said. “At least we have the freedom to vote.”