San Fransisco Chronicle

Thursday, August 21, 2003

Independent voters key to California recall

Jim Mangia

As a progressive independent who has been building the political reform movement for almost two decades, I want to state first and foremost that I support the right of California voters to recall their elected officials.

The recall is a crucial form of direct democracy that we, the people need in order to maintain our direct access to policy-making and to hold our elected officials accountable.

Many who call themselves liberal or progressive oppose the recall process and are using all the far-right catch phrases to critique it: "excessive democracy," "politically disruptive," "mob rule." I couldn't disagree more. We cannot allow ourselves to be duped into opposing an important good government reform that was enacted in 1911 during the Progressive era simply because it is now being used by political forces we might disagree with.

Supporting the right to recall doesn't mean you support recalling someone in every (including, this) situation. The Coalition for Political Reform and the Committee for an Independent Voice, two nonpartisan political organizations that represent independent voters, have been engaged in an extensive grassroots polling operation, reaching thousands of independent ("decline to state") voters across California. Nearly 65 percent of them oppose this recall election because they believe it has been instigated on behalf of a right-wing agenda.

Political analysts are observing that independents may hold the key to Gov. Gray Davis' future. As a spokesperson for the independent voter, I can tell you that independents -- and California has more than 3 million of them -- are watching carefully. They don't like to see their populism exploited for ideological purposes. They don't like to see their right to direct democracy mocked or undermined.

There is clearly a voter rebellion sweeping California and it has roots in this state and beyond. The uprising that resulted in Ross Perot's stunning 20 million votes for president in 1992 has still not been satisfied. The disdain for political manipulation, partisan gridlock and special interests has not abated.

Politicians and the media often misunderstand the independent voter. The 3 million "decline to state" independents in California decided to place themselves outside of the two-party framework for a reason. They not only dislike the Democrats and the Republicans. Many consider themselves anti-party altogether.

While most independents at this juncture oppose the recall of Davis, do they support the governor? Not necessarily. That will depend on the kind of campaign Davis runs and to what extent he makes a point of reaching out to independent voters, with respect to their views on the political process -- including their views in support of the right to recall. We can be sure of one thing: Progressive independents support the right to recall, even while we don't want a recall to benefit the right.

Jim Mangia (www.jimmangia.com), president of the Coalition for Political Reform, was the national secretary of the Reform Party and a media spokesperson for the Ross Perot '96 presidential campaign.