LOOK WHAT THEY'VE STARTED

Recall effort against the governor . . . of Nevada?

A statewide group of activists and conservatives angered by Nevada's record tax increases will notify the Secretary of State's office Wednesday of their intent to recall Gov. Kenny Guinn.

Members of the Committee to Recall Governor Guinn said Monday they have more than 600 volunteers ready to circulate petitions and collect the more than 128,000 signatures needed to recall the governor.

"Guinn wrote the tax plan. He was the catalyst behind it, and we need to get rid of the catalyst," said political consultant Tony Dane, one of five members of the group's steering committee.

The committee is composed of Republicans and members of ultraconservative parties.

Do you think this will work? Somehow I doubt it. Basically, Republicans in Nevada are lowering the standard for recalling a sitting governor from misconduct, ineptitude and/or corruption to "he signed a bill that we don't like". A bill that was also passed by the legislature!

Of course, Guinn is himself a Republican, albeit a moderate, reasonably pro-environment one. It would appear that archconservatives in Nevada have the same view of their own party as the far right GOP in California (motto: "Electability, Shmelectability"). Those in favor of recalling Guinn point to his economic bills, but there's no Cali-esque budget deficit to hang around his neck, and if there was, surely they would have mentioned it here.

Continuing on that theme, this could potentially be a political miscalculation of Issa proportions on the part of the far right in Nevada. By the time signature gatherers retrieve the 128,000 sigs necessary for a recall to go forward, we'll be at the tail-end of the recall race here in the Golden State. Recent polling has shown support for recalling Gray Davis to be waning considerably, and it really has nowhere to go but down as the weeks go by. Naturally, being next door to us, the people of Nevada will observe us and proclaim "we're not gonna take this bullshit" (with a Nevada accent, of course, whatever that sounds like). And unlike Davis, Guinn enjoys widespread support and won re-election last year in a landslide.

POSTSCRIPT: A website put together by Nevada Assemblyman Bob Beers regarding the budget there has incorrectly and, perhaps, illegally used the word "Californication". He should be embarassed . . . and sued! Yeah!