Political Ramifications of Davis Recall Effort

Re “Davis’ Reelection Team Regroups to Fight Recall,” June 2: For Gov. Gray Davis, Garry South and the team behind the governor to make disingenuous statements about the Republican effort to mount a recall is the ultimate hypocrisy. I have no sympathy for a group that spent millions of dollars to defeat Richard Riordan in the Republican primary, an election not involving their own party. To now complain about the backlash those actions created is laughable if not absurd.

I am not in favor of the recall on any level. It subverts the election process and allows the politicos more control than I feel comfortable with. The system is already “damaged goods,” and this just makes the situation even more distressed. There is one glaring fact that many of the people signing the petitions are not considering. If the recall is successful, then the Republican Party, not the voters, will in effect select the candidate to run against a Democratic Party candidate (or candidates), by choosing whom it will back. I don’t know if the people signing understand this, but that fact terrifies me, and I am a lifelong Republican.

Peter N. Karp

La Costa

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The GOP is trying to lay the blame for the state’s deficit on Davis. Somehow they have overlooked many important facts in their quest to nail him. Every state is suffering with large shortfalls. Ours is larger because of the billions that were gouged out of us by energy companies such as Enron and “Kenny Boy” Lay, a Bush buddy who headed it. Somehow they have ignored the fact that our nation is in a recession and the administration lacks any policy to get us out of it other than huge tax cuts. Sadly, those tax cuts are designed to give the lion’s share to 1% of the taxpayers and toss a few crumbs to the rest of us.

Melvin Bragman

Laguna Woods