Wednesday, February 14th, 2007...7:33 am
Recall? Probably Not
Politico Mafioso was poking fun at Leonard Clark and William Crum and their recall attempt against John McCain. Mafioso’s main poke at the recall is that these guys are folks that have run for office a few times and failed, so they’ll fail here.
Point taken about their previous runs. Clark made a great deal of noise about running in 2006, and he was still being talked up by some on the left as an alternative to Jim Pederson well after he failed to file to run in the primary. The only evidence I saw of a campaign on his part was a single supporter who asked me to sign one of his petitions in closing months of 2005. Now, he has announced as a canidate to run against McCain in 2010 (!), or, I suppose, in this recall. Like his last campaign, this seems to be an awful lot of talk, only existing on Daily Kos.
We all love quixotic quests and we all need one once in a while to kill the cynicism. But, I wonder if this sort of half-assed silliness just serves to dash the hopes of progressive activists and distracts the movement from goals that they can actually achieve.
Mafioso missed the biggest barricade put in place on the road to recall: it may not actually be legally possible. If you look at an old Arizona ballot, you will see the words “pledged to recall” after federal candidates. This is because there has always been a question about whether or not state recall provisions apply to federal candidates. In the early days of our state, federal candidates were asked to sign a statement that they would respect the results of a local recall effort. This statement has disappeared from ballots, and I don’t exactly know when it stopped being there or why the law changed. Recall laws, like state laws regarding term limits, are generally agreed to not apply to United States Congressmen. Although, I have to admit that I am hard pressed to think of a time that this has been tested before the courts.
NB - One more thing, over on Mafioso, they complain about the “liberal” Charles Barkley. This is because he’s been talking trash about George Bush and he seems to like John Edwards. The guy has actually been non-ideological in many ways, and has bragged of a freindship with Dan Quayle and talks of an admiration for Clarence Thomas. The man endorsed Steve Forbes back in 1996. Geez, if that’s liberal, our political spectrum is totally off plumb.
10 Comments
February 14th, 2007 at 8:33 pm
Comrade Ted,
The papers for the recall were taken out Tuesday http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0214mccainrecall0214.html
by Looney Lenny Clark, wanna be wacked out Liberal politician. Good Luck! Lenny will be lucky to as many signatures as he had votes in the last election…Like others, these 2 just trying to make a name for themselves.
February 14th, 2007 at 9:29 pm
Do the good folks at Political Mafioso realize that Steve Nash is a liberal?
February 15th, 2007 at 7:53 am
Members of Congress are clearly delineated in at least one state statute relating to recall. I’m no expert, but it does seem that the intent of state lawmakers was to include Members in the state’s jurisdiction to recall. Also in those statutes is the signature requirements to activate a recall - a number equal to 25% of the total number of voters in the last general election for the office about which the recall is proposed. So Clark would need to gather signatures from 25% of the total number of votes cast in last year’s Senate election. According to Jan Brewer’s website, 1,526,782 Arizonans cast ballots in the Senate race last year (including 12 votes for write-in candidates). That means Clark needs to collect a minimum of 381,696 signatures to place the recall on the ballot in the next statewide general election. It’s a relatively low threshold, but still high given McCain’s confusing popularity in the state. Wasn’t there a similar attempt a couple of years ago to recall the Governor? This may not get very far, but it’ll be fun to watch.
February 15th, 2007 at 9:17 am
You may also rememeber that members of congress are “clearly deliniated” in the term limit ammendment as well, and term limits passed as an attempt to limit congressional terms.
February 15th, 2007 at 9:17 am
Go ahead and laugh. You know what I had two friggin months to try and get 4000 signatures from all different counties in the beautiful state of Arizona because I had just gotten back from Iraq and could not actively campaign for the Senate until I was discharged. To get as many signatures as I did and not get the support from the elite of the Democratic party actually was far more an achievement than those who find it so easy to criticize me for having the audacity to challenge multi-millionaires fresh back from my tour in Iraq (in which I was honorably discharged, awarded the Army Achievement medal and presented with a signed letter of congratulations of a job well done from the governor.
It’s true I’m a progressive activist but I also love my country and have proved it on the battlefield so I just want to thank you for giving me the extra inspiration to always continue fighting and speaking up for the causes with real action and not just talk from critics in the stands “who know neither victory or defeat”.
Leonard Clark
The Damn Liberal
and Damn Proud of It !
February 15, 2007
February 15th, 2007 at 11:45 am
I am excited that Leonard posted on a blog and didn’t do so in all caps.
February 16th, 2007 at 7:24 am
Has anybody ever tried challenging a Member of Congress under the state’s term limits statute? I don’t remember because I haven’t lived in Arizona long enough and this is the first time my attention’s been called to it, so I’ve never read that particular statute. I think it’s an interesting question about jurisdiction.
And regardless of the ultimate outcome, a recall petition drive helps give Senator Double-Talk a black eye leading into what is probably his last chance to become President. Or it just paints the petition drivers as far-loony-leftists. Or maybe a little of both. At least it’ll be fun to watch.
March 20th, 2007 at 6:49 pm
Well if you want to make fun of the Chair person of the Americans For Integrity And Justice. We are out to take our country from the war profiteers of the Bush crime family. The owners of this site must be part of the Crime Family. By the way, I am a vietnam vets so take your cheap shots. Lets get it on, Identify yourself and how we can communicate or would you cut and run like your fearless leader.
April 2nd, 2007 at 11:49 pm
Mafiaso, did you ever serve or did you have a pimple on you butt known as you brain like your twin brother Russ used. Is it a lack of a brain that lets two veterans of the military, who did their duty and your 110th Congress where fews of them served our country. Why don’t you harass those citizens of our country or are you afraid? Be very afraid because they are listening to you.
April 3rd, 2007 at 7:40 am
Um, William, I’m not Politico Mafioso. If you have an issue with his site, you should publish it over there.
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