"The recall process is not "idiocy". It's a rational, legal process and a living civics lesson. Either elections generates decent voter turnout or recalls will."
WS: The voter turnout was about the same as during the last gubernatorial election, according to the numbers you posted (about 7.4 million). What happened was that about 1.1 million Democratic votes (3.5 million in 2002 vs. 2.4 in 2003) went to Republicans (either AS or McClintock), as there was little net change for other parties.
Now, you can interpret these 1.1 million votes as a repudiation of DLC policy as you do, but I doubt this is the case. The socio-demographic of it (white male, lower-middle class, mostly rural) does not support such a view. My interpretation is that it was a bunch of stupid people expressing their infatuation with a celebrity and an alpha male.
Wojtek