The Song Remains the Same: Thought I'd make my monthly trip over to NRO to see what's doing. A lot to talk about no doubt, but I figured I stick to the CA recall which is so au courant umm, currently. Here's a piece from "the Editors" on the three main candidates: Busta, Der Schwarz, and Mc-C. Basically the article starts from the proposition that with the three, the conservative voter has to decide which of the three paths each candidate represents is best for her, Mc-C ("true" conservatism), Der Schwarz (not so "true," but better than Gray, and more lkely to win), or Busta ("pragmatic" and experienced - oh and hopelessly liberal...sorry almost left that out).

Busta is obviously given no endorsement here. He wants higher taxes on smokes, gas and millionaires (which is essentially Schwarzenegger symbolized; he's mega-rich, drives gas-guzzling Hummers, and loves the stogies [albeit not cigs]). More persuasively, it's clear that Busta's plan is not to reform, but to just drag in more money to, presumably, spend.

Mc-C is given major props on "the vision thing," but no one expects him to win. So, do you vote on principle, or vote to win? Perhaps a call over to Professor Gore might give you an opinion on this one.

The problem boils down to, according to NRO, whether you believe that Der Schwarz won't raise taxes. He hasn't pledged not to, a la Mc-C, but he also hasn't said he would. According to the "Editors",

That may mean that he intends to raise taxes once elected. Or it may mean that he wants to leave his options open, which may amount to the same thing: A governor who has not taken the no-tax-hike pledge will face very strong pressure to raise taxes.

So, while the GOP often complains that the Dems are a one-issue party (usually abortion, sometimes welfare) it's clear that taxes are the litmus test for the California conservatives. I find this a bit short-sighted in light of how many problems face California right now, but I'll give them a break only because my Hummer is double-parked and I need to get some smokes.