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Dan Weintraub:

The other day I was interviewed on the radio along with Ted Costa, the man who started the campaign to recall Gov. Gray Davis. Costa, who is chief executive of the anti-tax group Peoples Advocate, was asked what he has against the governor.

"We're upset with government in general," Costa replied. "Sure, we picked him out. He's the CEO of this operation. But government in California has become utterly corrupt. Every bill that seems to go through the Legislature, it's because money was given to the political arena. We want that mess cleaned up.

"We are starting out with him," Costa said. "And this is a continuous thing that will go on. It will not stop once he's thrown out of office."

As far as I know, this was the first time Costa had so clearly stated his desire for a California political revolt. He and his allies are aiming for the head. But it's the whole body they're after.

And that, I think, is what really has the elites in this state panicked. They have no love for Gray Davis. But they fear that the recall could be the start of something over which they have little control.

But there is LOTS more of serious interest. Well, damn it, let me quote some more of it:

California, a place famous for direct democracy through the ballot initiative, our candidate elections have suffered from a distinct lack of voter engagement.

The statewide races are dominated by television commercials, with little chance for real people to see, touch and question the candidates. Debates are few and far between, and real debates are almost unheard of. Advances in political technology have allowed the campaigns to carve the voters up into little slices and then bombard them with messages meant to move them on narrow issues. Last year's campaign for governor, for example, included barely a word of serious discussion about the two problems that have brought the state to its knees: the energy crisis and the fiscal meltdown.

The Legislature, meanwhile, has engaged in a bipartisan scam to dampen political competition, first by limiting campaign contributions, which helps incumbents, and then by redrawing district boundaries in a way that determines the partisan outcome of almost all the races in advance. The voter registration of the districts is so lopsided that the victor in the party primary is almost always guaranteed to win the general election.

The result is a political class horribly disconnected from the rest of California.

Statewide leaders live in a cocoon where interest group money and political strategists are the only things that really matter. And legislators either don't have to worry about reelection at all or fear only the small chance that they will be outflanked by a candidate of their own party in the primary. Term limits, which were supposed to make the Legislature more in touch with the people, haven't helped, because a third or so of the members aren't running for reelection and the rest are concerned only about finding their next job and the money to win it.

It's little wonder that we have a revolt on our hands. Davis allies have tried to portray the campaign as a right-wing coup, and of course its roots are in the conservative Republican community. But the unrest goes well beyond that core group, extending to many Democrats and the state's growing number of independents. Even Peter Camejo, the Green Party candidate for governor last year, has said he will run again if the recall qualifies for the ballot.