10 Years of the Recall Elections Blog

Welp, might as well at least acknowledge this: 

10 years ago today, the Recall Elections Blog bounced into existence. I whiffed on starting a website, and of course I was about five years too late to the blogging revolution, but it sounds like I got the timing right (normally, I'm off by about a century or two).

We're now on the cusp of a second gubernatorial recall.  We've covered 18 of the 39 state legislative recalls in US history, the first judicial recall in the US since 1982, and close to a thousand recall elections (and over 150 resignations). Clearly, the recall is out of its Bermuda Triangle and once again having its moment.

I've been asked why I've focused on the recall, and well (might as well get some bragging in) in the last 10 years, I've written 213 op-eds on subjects far and wide, among them: the Electoral College, Voter Turnout; Third Parties; The Return to the 1880s; the Growth of the VP; One-Termers; Presidential and VP Selection; Conventions; So, so many articles against Iowa and New Hampshire; Gerrymandering; Congressional Leadership changes; Presidential communications; the folly of our Presidential succession system; The "First Round Draft Picks of American Politics";  NY's return to power, it's toxic judicial selection methods and the challenge of us electing natural born hayseeds as Mayor; why Joe Biden would be likely to get the Democratic nomination (not my headline); how my actual job is like a magic show and (most meaningfully) my grandfather's WWII experience and the Counted Remnant. 

But of course, the recall has been a focus -- many articles have been on the recall (so far, I've written pieces in 38 states and 5 continents -- anyone got a connection to the Antarctica Herald-Tribune?). Perhaps the most unusual of these involved my historical research on Wisconsin's recall, leading to a story about Harry Houdini's Tefillin.  And yet, once again, why the recall? I think I've explained it in a number of outlets how the recall shows the growth in more democratic procedures in government (for good or ill) and the success of the delegate/advocate/representative model of elected government. It also allows us to examine how technological changes impact the process and how voter anger works in practice. But, perhaps as important, I do think it may tell us a bit more about the political process and where we are going than observers realize. The death of local newspapers -- and the unfortunate sole focus on national issues to the detriment of local ones -- has led commentators to miss out on some of the biggest changes that have shaken the political world. The recall is one window into this. 

I do want to thank the readers and the many journalists, academics and fellow bloggers who have supported this endeavor over the years. Some names to note (and sorry for whoever I've left off), starting with arguably the biggest inspiration to starting the blog -- Election Law Blogger Rick Hasen; Milwaukee Journal Sentinel's Craig Gilbert, Daily Kos' David Nir, PoliticalWire's Taegan Goddard, History News Network's Rick Shenkman, Ballot Access News' Richard Winger, Volokh Conspiracy's Eugene Volokh and LA Times' Mark Barabak. In the Wisconsin recalls, The Guardian's Richard Adams nicely nominated me for a proposed "wonk of the wonk awards" and then Politico's (now NYT, but forever Room8) Ben Smith ranked me among the "everything on the internet" and Chicago Magazine listed me as a Recall Junkie. So those were all fun. 

Did I plan for it to last this long? Well, if you're starting a blog on Recall Elections, long-term planning is probably not going to be your thing. What can we expect in the future? More Simpsons jokes, more Dylan/The Hold Steady/Springsteen/Neil Young references? Obviously. More money? Kinda of doubting that one. More people calling me crazy for spending time on this? Undoubtedly. But certainly a lot more disappointed officeholders.