[Wikipedia-l] Calif recall candidates --

[Delirium]

Richard Grevers wrote:

> Well even the smaller states of India are more populous than most US 
> states.
>
> Excuse my ignorance of the US electoral system, but are there 
> gubnertorial contests happening in some or all of the other states at 
> the same time? If there are, then why should California be singled 
> out, other than for the reason that California tends to be self 
> aggrandizing? And the reason for that might be that it is home to the 
> third-largest film and TV industry in the world and the accompanying 
> media circus?

Well, one reason is that it's a recall election, not a normal election, 
which is somewhat unusual in non-parliamentary systems.  Secondly, 
Arnold Schwarzenegger is running an apparently serious campaign, which 
makes people take notice.  If, say, David Hasselhof were running a 
serious campaign for a state governorship in Germany, it'd probably make 
the US papers too.

-Mark