RECALL JUNKIES awoke Wednesday morning to this email from Howard Kaloogian, chairman of the Recall Gray Davis Committee: “I know you are all probably getting sick of hearing about this, but it is absolutely pertinent that we have the funding to match the ‘No on Recall’ campaign. Whether you can afford a contribution of $100, $50, $25, $250, $500 or $1,000 I still need thousands of supporters to step forward and help pay for these critical campaign ads.” It adds: “Remember–if you contribute $1,000 or more towards our ‘Yes on Recall’ ad campaign you will be able to tell us what TV or radio station(s) you want the ads you paid for to run on.”

If the solicitation sounds like a distress signal, that’s because California’s recall committees find themselves in troubled waters these days. On the positive side, they’ve succeeded beyond their wildest expectations in pushing Davis to the brink of recall. The latest Field Poll has the governor losing, 55 percent to 40 percent. Six months ago, before the recall movement kicked into high gear, only a narrow plurality of registered voters (46 percent to 43) thought Gray should go.