Why I can’t recall
Published by Mark Von Nida on May 3rd, 2008
By Mark
The recall measure fell three votes short in the Senate on Thursday. This means that it probably will not end up on the November ballot as a constitutional amendment. My guess is that it was intended as a shot across the Governor’s bow.
The version in the Senate had been expanded beyond state oficers to include local officials as well as judges. I talked to Senator Haine who was a no vote. He was concerned with the idea of judges being threatened into bad decisions as well as the prospect of endless and expensive special elections.
Proponents would point to the high threshold of signatures required for a recall but Haine was unconvinced. “Then why do it if it won’t be used?”
Voters will have a chance to vote on whether to hold a Constitutional Convention this fall. While most interest groups are queasy about opening up that process, that is one way to discuss accountability among politicians.
Filed under State Issues
May 3rd, 2008 at 11:25 am
It would appear the recall vote was meant to send a message to Blagojevich. It did give some democratic State Senators an opportunity to vote yes knowing the bill would not pass. Nice to talk about that at election time. Some democrats got to vote no like Forby and Demuzio and in return got some real financial goodies for their districts. It would appear Haine did not play that game.
The recall bill was filled with flaws. It was a bad idea. Anytime a bill gets voted on as a rection to something like a bad governor, and goodness Blagojevich is a bad governor, one should be suspect of the motives of those sponsoring the bill.
Blagojevich will be gone in about two years anyway.
May 6th, 2008 at 7:13 pm
Just to clarify, Forby didn’t cast a vote as he was not in Springfield due to his wife having surgery that day. Whether or not he got “goodies” for his district by not being present to cast a Yes vote is open to interpretation.
It will be interesting to see if the Burzynski-Forby race heats up later this year. Many Republicans really liked Ron Summers, but he didn’t get close to Forby in 2004, which was a fairly partisan-neutral year in that part of the state.