As expected, the Ninth Circuit reversed its own decision in the en banc ruling, which is hardly a surprise given that the original decision flew in the face of Bush v. Gore and other prior precedents in the field. The opinions are available here. I haven’t had a chance to read through them yet, but the decision was hardly unexpected. It is clear that the three-judge panel was legislating from the bench rather than following the letter of the law.
The ACLU has also stated that they would not appeal to the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court would more than likely deny cert anyway, so there’s no major surprise there. The Supreme Court doesn’t want another political hot potato like Bush v. Gore and with the Ninth deciding the case themselves they won’t have to take it.
UPDATE: The Legal Theory Blog has a huge piece covering all the legal issues involved. It’s well worth reading to make the issues behind the decision clear.
In another surprising twist, recall engineer Darrell Issa is now saying he’ll speak out against the recall if “some of the many Republicans in the race don’t drop out and stand behind a single candidate.” On the surface, this is a brilliant maneuver for Issa personally. He can simultaneously deflect criticism that he staged a coup of one that snowballed into an expensive, divisive and pointless partisan circus when California needs it the least, and also strongarm Tom McClintock out of the race in the wake of growing evidence that Arnold is an empty suit nowhere near qualified for the gubernatorial debates let alone the governorship itself.
On the other hand, McClintock’s wing (that’d be the fringe right-wing) of the California GOP who probably thought they had a friend in Issa, are not likely to be too pleased with his bully tactics waged against their man. A united California GOP is barely worth its weight in lead, so a California GOP divided amongst itself is even more worthless. To paraphrase Jay Reding….it couldn’t have happened to a nicer bunch of people.
Who cares about Darrell Issa? Even if he does speak out on the recall nobody really gives a damn.
I expect the reaction that’s coming will indicate that many people care. When the guy who funded much of the recall effort implies he’d rather see Gray Davis keep his job than for a non-Schwarzenegger Republican to get it, that doesn’t speak too well about the recall in general or the status of the Republican party in California.
Melissa is right on this issue – Issa is a non-actor. Nobody signed the petitions for Darrell Issa, they signed because they don’t like Gray Davis. Furthermore, Issa isn’t saying that he wants Davis in, he’s making the argument that a divided Republican field might lead to that eventuality anyway.
If Issa goes against the recall the only thing that will be lost is Issa’s political future. The momentum behind the recall will continue with or without him.
If the momentum behind the recall does continue, that’s good news for Davis who, more than anyone else, is seeing the momentum in the recall. Schwarzenegger is not doing himself any favors by blowing off every debate that doesn’t provide a script for him. Hopefully, the first script he’ll read after October 7 is the “Terminator 4” script, which he’ll be reading in LA, not Sacramento.
As for Issa, he’s the Karl Rove of this operation….a calculated power broker who pulls the strings and to whom alot of people will owe alot of favors to if Davis is replaced with a Republican. Much like Cheney, DeLay, Rove and other Issa clones, Issa would be too cold-blooded to ever be elected to a position of real power, so he’s smart enough to stand behind the kinds of people who can be elected to a position of real power. The fact that Republicans are already declaring that Issa is an irrelevant is an excellent indication that the rest of us should frequently look over our shoulder to make sure he’s not following us covered head to toe in a giant black cape and holding a giant wooden staff.
What’s the color of the skies on your planet? Issa is a nobody, and he has no base of power. Other than paying for the recall, he has no political leverage, and even then the recall didn’t have anything to do with him.
The only thing that he shares with Rove is that they are both Republicans.