Governor of California

[Xavierhitman]

Gary Coleman , the star of the 1980s sitcom, "Diff'rent Strokes," plunked down $3,500 in Alameda County on Wednesday and declared himself a candidate for governor of California. Current governor Gray Davis is facing a recall election Oct. 7.

The diminutive actor has been in and out of legal trouble since the popular show ended, and was recently on the E! series "Star Dates," where stars and singles mingle with mixed results.

Arnold Schwarzenegger also announced his candidacy Wednesday while taping "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno ." He ended a news conference by telling reporters "I'll be back."

"The politicians are fiddling, fumbling and failing," the "Terminator" actor said. "The man that is failing the people more than anyone is Gray Davis. He is failing them terribly, and this is why he needs to be recalled and this is why I am going to run for governor."

Comedian Gallagher is also gathering signatures.

The celebrities enter a pool of eager candidates hungry to oust Davis, who has seen his popularity plummet as the state grapples with a record $38 billion budget deficit. Davis is the first California governor to face a recall and would be only the second governor nationwide to be removed from office if the effort succeeds.

Popular Democrat Sen. Dianne Feinstein ruled out a run, saying the election was becoming "more and more like a carnival every day."

Meanwhile, Jerry Springer has decided not to run for U.S. Senate after spending about $1 million of his own money crisscrossing Ohio the last six months, speaking at Democratic dinners and gauging support for a Senate bid. He had said he would run if he could "break through the clutter of the show" and be a formidable candidate.

What is next M. Jackson For Mayor of New York

[karasz]

i have to say im a fan of the process... granted its a circus...

top runners are huffington, schwarzenegger (misspelled) and the Lt. Gov... cant remember his name

not to mention larry flynt... i know he sells hustler... but if hefner got in on it would the reaction be any different???

i have to say that i think it would be interesting to see flynt as governor... although my money is on the accent crew... huffington VS arnold

arnold wins by 3% points

[J0KER1344]

this is getting ridiculus. Every celberity in holly wood is running for office

[JMHX]

Don't you have at least two other topics just like this one, involving Coleman and Schwarzenegger? It's getting a little rediculous that we need so many of these when one would get the point across quite perfectly.

[AbstractVagabond]

I GOT IT!!!

I can see it now.

"Who Wants To Be A Governer?"

100 people in a bid to replace Grey Davis. Each week, a few gets voted off the ballot until 5 remain. Those 5 will be voted by the Californian people.

Coming to you October 1st on ABC.

I'm with Davis in wanting a delay for the voting day. Do you know how big that ballot is gonna be?

Arnold Schwartzenegger
Gary Coleman
Larry Flint
Bugs Bunny
Bert and Ernie
Barney
Freddy Krueger
Hulk Hogan
Santa Claus

It's turning into a joke and it wasn't even the intention. I'm taking it seriously, but you know a lot of them on the ballot isn't and we know who they are.

[JMHX]

Hulk Hogan can't follow after Jesse Ventura so soon. That didn't go over well in Minnesota.

[AbstractVagabond]

At 8/9/03 12:57 AM, JudgeMeHarshX wrote: Hulk Hogan can't follow after Jesse Ventura so soon. That didn't go over well in Minnesota.

Yeah, but you know us Californians don't pay much attention to Minnesota. You know how well we paid attention to Grey Davis.

[JMHX]

If you'd have followed Ventura's lead in Minnesota, California wouldn't be in the sad fiscal position it is today. Hell, you guys went without a budged for a week there. That's something to be proud of while giving Gray Davis the boot.

[FUNKbrs]

so now would be a BAD time to say I voted for both Jerry Lawler and Prince Mongo when they ran for mayor of memphis?

[JMHX]

At 8/10/03 01:05 AM, FUNKbrs wrote: so now would be a BAD time to say I voted for both Jerry Lawler and Prince Mongo when they ran for mayor of memphis?

Jerry Springer for Senate in Ohio!

[AbstractVagabond]

At 8/9/03 02:16 AM, JudgeMeHarshX wrote: If you'd have followed Ventura's lead in Minnesota, California wouldn't be in the sad fiscal position it is today. Hell, you guys went without a budged for a week there. That's something to be proud of while giving Gray Davis the boot.

Well, you know, it takes time for marijuana to wear off and realize the mess we made. What I'm proud of is that we'll be the only state in history to have a ballot bigger than the phonebook.

[bumcheekcity]

At 8/10/03 03:12 AM, JudgeMeHarshX wrote: Jerry Springer for Senate in Ohio!

I'd prefer Jerry than Tony Blair, or Ian Duncan Smith. I wish he would come over here. *Prays*

[Rummel]

You know society has gone wrong when an actor is probably the best candidate. I think that people should stop giving Schwarzennagar crap for not being experianced and stuff. How exactly does one get experiance without doing something anyway? Besides, how do know for sure how he'll govern? For all we know he could be the best thing that ever happend to this state, or he could crash amd burn like Davis. If he does, we could just recall him.

[XkwiziTOnE]

I hear its over 200 people that are tryin or have tried to place their name on the ballot. Its crazy. I dont know about all of this that is going on, but they need to get things in order and remember the people that are involved........the community, the people & the country......

[JMHX]

197, at last count, signed up for the ballot. Fewer have been approved, but more are expected to be approved tomorrow. Also, the official lottery to see the order in which the names would be placed on the phone-book sized ballot has finally been held. Read about it here:

http://www.nbc4.tv/politics/2397061/detail.html

[HardcoreChristmas]

Preliminary List Of Candidates For Recall Election

Here are some of the more notable names among the 195 candidates who turned in candidacy papers Saturday:

DEMOCRATS
Audie E. Bock, Alameda, former Green Party legislator
Cruz M. Bustamante, Sacramento, lieutenant governor
Dan Feinstein, San Francisco, no relation to the Sen. Dianne Feinstein
Larry Flynt, Los Angeles, porn magnate
Edward Thomas Kennedy, Trinity, not of that Kennedy family
Paul James Nave, Marin, former professional boxer
Donald A. Novello, Marin, aka Father Guido Sarducci of "Saturday Night Live" fame
Georgy Russell, Santa Clara, sells "Georgy For Governor" thong underwear
Michael J. Wozniak, Alameda, no relation to Apple-founder Steve Wozniak

REPUBLICANS
S. Issa, Los Angeles, no relation to recall leader Rep. Darrell Issa
Michael Jackson, Los Angeles, electrical engineer and not a pop music star
Tom McClintock, Ventura, Republican state senator
Arnold Schwarzenegger, Los Angeles, actor and former champion bodybuilder
Bill Simon, Los Angeles, former GOP candidate for governor
Peter V. Ueberroth, Orange, former baseball commissioner

GREEN
Peter Miguel Camejo, Sacramento, Green Party standard-bearer

INDEPENDENT
Angelyne, Los Angeles, actress and buxom Los Angeles billboard model
Gary Coleman, Alameda, diminutive former child actor
Mary "Mary Carey" Cook, Los Angeles, porn actress
Leo Gallagher, Los Angeles, watermelon-hurling comic
Jack Grisham, Orange, frontman for punk band TSOL, aka True Sounds of Liberty
Arianna Huffington, Los Angeles, political columnist
Todd Richard Lewis, Los Angeles, actor and "bum hunter"
Darryl L. Mobley, Contra Costa, publisher of Family Digest Magazine
J. Leonard Padilla, Sacramento, bounty hunter
Jeff Rainforth, Sacramento, chair of Reform Party of California
Richard J. Simmons, Los Angeles, not the weight-loss guru
B.E. Smith, Trinity, spent two years in prison for growing marijuana
Mathilda Karel Spak, at 100-years-old is the oldest candidate
Nathan Whitecloud Walton, San Diego, son of former NBA star Bill Walton

LIBERTARIAN
Ned Fenton Roscoe, Napa, owner of Cigarettes Cheaper chain

[XkwiziTOnE]

Wow thats alot just starting and know by popularity........this election out there on the west some serious stuff.......but makes one wonder....

[JMHX]

At 8/11/03 11:54 PM, XkwiziTOnE wrote: Wow thats alot just starting and know by popularity........this election out there on the west some serious stuff.......but makes one wonder....

Were you planning on bringing a viewpoint to the table, or just rambling open-endedly?

[JMHX]

At 8/12/03 05:09 AM, BaKsHi wrote: please.... god!!!!

give the people of california a real politician to lead them!

You know, Bakshi, your swirling PC logo looks a whole lot like mine, only colored like the desert. I'm beginning to think Shrike doesn't hand-draw every single sig-pic with his withered nubs. I want my 800 dollars back!

[Goatchrist]

At 8/12/03 05:09 AM, BaKsHi wrote: please.... god!!!!

give the people of california a real politician to lead them!

I think Arnold would be a good "Gouvernator"

Larry Flynt? Erm.....no comments

Yeah, there are even prostitutes who want to have the job

[bumcheekcity]

At 8/12/03 07:21 AM, KoRnFreakeR wrote: Yeah, there are even prostitutes who want to have the job

Prostitutes who want the job of governer? The good US of A has gone insane[r].

[Goatchrist]

At 8/12/03 03:05 PM, --bumcheekcity-- wrote: Prostitutes who want the job of governer? The good US of A has gone insane[r].

Yeah, a prostitude and a porn girl...the latter even has quite good chances....sick

[bumcheekcity]

At 8/12/03 03:21 PM, KoRnFreakeR wrote: Yeah, a prostitude and a porn girl...the latter even has quite good chances....sick

You're kidding. It's disgusting. Politics is a serious business, involving choices that will affect billions, and entire countries, and they're making it into a joke.

[OpIvy420]

As a Californian, I think this is disgusting. While I don't like Gray Davis (that's like saying your favorite food is wheat), personally I think that to get recalled from office, you need to have done something pretty awful, like Nixon-level shit. People blame Davis for the energy crisis, while that was actually caused by crooked energy companies like Enron, and the economy troubles aren't his fault. It's not like Gray Davis told all dot com companies to go bankrupt, they did that on their own. While Davis really didn't do anything good while in office, he didn't do anything really, really bad, so I think that this recall thing is a massive waste.

Also, on the Schwarzenegger thing, I think it's rediculous that he may become governor. He has absolutely no political experience, and Governor of California shouldn't be an entry-level position in my opinion. I mean, would you want a man with no experience in medicine to perform open heart surgery on you? Even Reagan, who, don't get me wrong, I despise, had experience in Actor's unions and that kind of thing before running for governor. The Gary Coleman, Larry Flynt kind of shit is just a joke, but Scharzenegger might actually be governor. If this is the case, we're all fucked.

[phantasm93]

At 8/13/03 03:32 AM, OpIvy420 wrote: Also, on the Schwarzenegger thing, I think it's rediculous that he may become governor. He has absolutely no political experience, and Governor of California shouldn't be an entry-level position in my opinion.

As a fellow Californian, I whole-heartedly agree. Even more concerning, however, is the fact that Schwarzenegger leads in the polls right now without having stated a concrete description of his platform at all. He's completely milking the name recognition for all that it's worth.

It's truly disheartening to see how many people continue to refuse the responsibility of political action. No one seems too upset about the fact that there aren't any platforms out there, or that the recall seems to be a political version of "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World."

I'll admit, I'm leaning toward Huffington, mainly because she's the only one I've heard actually put forth ideas on how to fix the economic situation here. I'd love to see all of the candidates' platforms coalesce sometime soon, though.

[JMHX]

At 8/13/03 05:19 AM, phantasm93 wrote:

At 8/13/03 03:32 AM, OpIvy420 wrote:

As a fellow Californian, I whole-heartedly agree. Even more concerning, however, is the fact that Schwarzenegger leads in the polls right now without having stated a concrete description of his platform at all. He's completely milking the name recognition for all that it's worth.

That's good politics. Get as far as you can without saying anything that could possibly compromise your chances. Also, he's made the move of naming Warren Buffett as his economic advisor, which will surely get more people backing him now that they think he's made the "right choices". I quote from some no-name Conservative on Sean Hannity's radio broadcast. Ah, Ah-nold, I have mixed feelings for you.

[Brown-Wolf]

Anyone who votes for Gary Coleman, or Larry Flint, or that watermelon guy needs to put that crack pipe down now!

[Brown-Wolf]

Of course Gray Davis has <B decades> of political experiance and look where he has gotten us Californians into! Besides, does Arnold really need twenty years to study Pandering 100 and Bribery 101?

[JMHX]

At 8/15/03 04:53 AM, Brown_Wolf wrote: Of course Gray Davis has <B decades> of political experiance and look where he has gotten us Californians into! Besides, does Arnold really need twenty years to study Pandering 100 and Bribery 101?

Ah-nuld will tuh-minate the men who try to give him money.

[Ogre13]

I heard it took $3500 and 65 signatures to get a place on the ballot. Why don't they just use that money to help California's financial problems? I mean, that adds up a little.