With Davis’s approval ratings in the 20s, it’s often easy to forget that there are some groups who actually support the guy. One such group is “Taxpayers” Against the Recall (hat tip: Justene), a group funded primiarily by tax-suckers such as the California Professional Firefighters PAC and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Committee. With credentials like that, it’s almost too generous to call the groups’ name “misleading,” as the naem is unlikely actually to mislead anyone. Here are a few highlights:

For a group that purports to care so much about taxpayers, the Taxpayers’ web site says precious little about taxes. Instead, they focus almost entirely on what an “extremist” Darrell Issa supposedly is. Unlike their more uncouth brethren (sisteren? siblingen?) over at StopIssa, the Taxpayers eschew the picture of a hold up and the defamatory remarks that accompany it, although they do include a gratuitous (and, given Issa’s ethnicity, arguably racist) reference to “hijacking.”

Mostly, however, the Taxpayers focus on Issa’s opposition to abortion. Taking full advantage of the fact that truth in advertising laws do not apply to political speech, the Taxpayers tell a real whopper, claiming that Issa supports a “Constitutional Ban on Abortion.” This is patently false, of course; the amendment Issa favors would in fact do nothing but allow states to pass laws restriction abortion rights if they so choose. Even if the statement were true, it would be irrelevant, as the Governor of California would play no role in ratifying such an amendment anyway. Indeed, if the Taxpayers really believed their own lie, they’d be campaigning on Issa’s behalf, and then working to fill his empty Congressional seat with a pro-choice Republican.

The Taxpayers also urge those of us who actually pay taxes to stalk signature gatherers, deliberately tie them up (figuratively) to impede their signature gathering activity, and to rat them out to the Gestapo anti-recall campaign for their goons to deal with later:

REPORT RECALL ACTIVITY TO OUR HOTLINE – ASAP!

(213) 382-4111

“Report recall activity” sure does make that activity sound nefarious, doesn’t it? “To report illegal or suspicious activity, call 911, unless the activity you suspect is conspiracy to commit signature gathering, in which case you should call (213) 382-411 instead.”

Well, by reading this blog entry, you’ve just witnessed a little “recall activity” yourself, haven’t you? Why not call these underworked Taxpayers to report it? Don’t be rude, nasty or abusive, or anything – anyone smart enough to find my blog is smart enough to know better than that. Instead, just waste a little of their time, by doing exactly as they requested. “Civil obedience,” if you will. Turnabout is fair play, and unlike the pro-Davis rabble-rousers, you will not be interfering with any legitimate electoral activities anyway.

I’ll leave you with one last gem:

Approach potential signers and ask them if they know who is behind the recall: remind them that it is a bunch of right-wing conservative Republicans, like Darrell Issa and Bill Simon, who can’t win an election fairly; they are trying to overturn a legal and fairly conducted election.

This goes to show how out of touch the Taxpayers are with ordinary citizens, including those of us who, unlike the Taxpayers, actually pay more in taxes than we get from Joe Davis’s government. Do the Taxpayers really think they can win over indepenents and moderates by caterwauling about “a bunch of right-wing conservatives” and a “legal and fairly conducted election” that their widdle Joey won “fair and square?” If so, let them have at it; they’ll do more to help the recall effort than to hurt it.