Hmmm. Should I, Joseph R. Guzzardi, your humble correspondent, be a candidate to replace the despised Gray Davis as Governor of California?

I've got the $3,500 entry fee. I can get 65 friends to sign my papers. It's that simple.

I'd be in!

I would expect the entire VDARE.COM editorial collective, acting individually of course, to pledge total support.

How, you ask, could someone who has toiled in obscurity at the Lodi Adult School for fifteen years aspire overnight to such a lofty perch as the Sacramento Governor's Mansion?

The answer is simple: the "Recall Gray Davis Campaign" will collect—possibly within the next few weeks— the necessary 897,000 signatures to force a special recall election this fall.

At that point, Davis's job is up for grabs. On the same ballot, all declared candidates except the evicted Davis will be listed in one monster, first-past-the post contest. The winner might need as little as 15 percent of the total vote.

The Democrats, except the actor Rob Reiner a.k.a. "Meathead" from the TV series All In The Family, have "officially" denied an interest in replacing Davis. Don't believe them. Once they smell blood, expect to see them on the ballot.

But, hmmm…on second thoughts, what normal person would want the crummy job?

Effective immediately, I withdraw!

Nevertheless, I have this advice for those still in the hunt: if you want to win high elective office in California, talk about the elephant in the living room - immigration. If you want to waste your time, your money and ultimately fail, pretend there's no such thing.

Pete Wilson, the last Republican winner, attacked illegal immigration. Bill Simon, Tom Campbell, Dan Lungren, Matt Fong, etc never mentioned the "I" word and were buried at the voting booth.

To get an insider's perspective, I spoke with former Republican California Assemblyman Howard Kaloogian, the chairman of the Recall Gray Davis effort, to ask if he thought immigration would be an issue.

"No," said Kaloogian without a moment's hesitation. "This recall effort is about the $35 billion deficit and the energy crisis."

Yeah, yeah. My friend and VDARE.COM colleague Steve Sailer predicted this would be the official response.

But Kaloogian's theory of what may motivate voters has two glaring flaws:

• Illegal immigration is inexorably tied to the budget deficit. Californians pay nearly $10 billion annually to educate K-12 non-English speakers. Add a few billion more for Medi-Cal services to illegal aliens and lo and behold you're talking about one-third of the state's deficit.

• Californians really don't understand the energy crisis. We know there was malfeasance, we know we got screwed but we don't really know what happened. When I asked 10 friends—all college graduates—to explain step by step how the energy crisis evolved, none could respond. But guess what? They all knew about and understood illegal immigration! And that subject made them hotter than the energy debacle.

Illegal immigration has been a festering boil with California voters since 1999. That's when Davis, in a smoke-filled room deal with then Mexican President Ernesto Zedillo, the California Latino Caucus and the Mexican American Legal Defense Fund, killed Proposition 187, a citizen's initiative to ban services to illegal aliens. Five million Californians voted for Proposition 187.

For a blow by blow account of how the slippery Davis, constitutionally bound to defend Proposition 187, instead worked in tandem with the Mexican government and its agents to ax the measure, see this link to Glenn Spencer's American Patrol.

Of special note in the sordid, sickening saga is Davis's romance with Zedillo. In February 1999 Davis, in one of his first official acts, flew to Mexico to woo Zedillo. And three months later, Zedillo toured California with Davis at his side.

After Davis completed his dirty deed, Antonio Villaraigosa, then California House Speaker and never one to miss a chance to add his two cents said, "As leader of the State Assembly, I say President Zedillo had a great impact in defeating Prop. 187."

Echoing the sentiments of enraged Californians, FAIR Executive Director and lawyer Dan Stein said:

"In no democracy in the world are the results of an election overturned without the voters having their day in court - that is, until today. The decision to drop the appeal of Prop. 187 has absolutely nothing to do with its constitutionality. This is a capitulation by Governor Davis to pressure from an elite group of pro-illegal immigration politicians and organizations. The implications of this are as frightening for the future of self government in our country as they are outrageous."

Davis's refusal to support the will of Californians prompted American Patrol's Glenn Spencer to initiate a recall effort. Not least because of a total news blackout by the mainstream media—not one word was written - the recall effort failed. But that was then and this is now.

Regarding Davis's fortunes, things are changing at dizzying speed. For those outside of California who want current information, these three websites support the recall: www.recallgraydavis.com; www.rescuecalifornia.com; www.davisrecall.com The pro-Davis camp is at: www.stoptherecall.com

In brief, here is the latest, the probable and the certain:

• This latest flash is just in. Senator Barbara Boxer is leaning on Davis to resign. If he resigns, then Bustamante becomes governor. This, in Boxer's pin head, is utopia. The ugly recall effort ends, the democrats keep the governor's office, and —incredible bonus— Governor Bustamante is Latino! But Davis, in a Fox News interview with Paula Zahn, firmly denied that he would resign.

• The probable outcome is that California will soon have a new governor. And a successful recall could be the beginning of a trend across the country. Rumblings in neighboring Nevada suggest that irate citizens have Governor Kenny Guinn in their sights.

The certainty: anyone who aspires to the thankless job of California governor could see his wish could come true if he would stand up, speak out and tell the truth –

"Californians have had enough immigration. I'll use all the powers of my office to bring it under control."

Joe Guzzardi [email him], an instructor in English at the Lodi Adult School, has been writing a weekly newspaper column since 1988. This column is exclusive to VDARE.COM.