No Rebates

As a Pontiac dealer in Glendale, Ariz., Evan Mecham handled his share of recalls, but he surely never expected to be the subject of one himself. Yet after just two months as Governor of Arizona, Mecham, 62, faces not only a storm of criticism over his appointments -- and the lowest approval rating of any new chief executive in local memory -- but also a growing effort to recall him.

A right-wing Republican, Mecham outraged civil rights leaders by rescinding the holiday honoring Martin Luther King Jr. Said Arizona House Minority Leader Art Hamilton, the state's most powerful black: "Mecham seems to have slept through the last 30 years of America." His appointments have infuriated opponents. The new head of the state liquor department is being investigated in connection with a 1954 killing. It turned out that Mecham's choice for a state investigator's post had been court-martialed twice while in the Marines. The new state education adviser stunned residents by proclaiming that teachers had no business contradicting students whose parents teach them the earth is flat.

In a survey released last month by Arizona Pollster Earl de Berge, 44% rated Mecham's performance as "poor" or "very poor." Mecham professes to be unconcerned about criticism, but he may find it harder to brush off Ed Buck. A Phoenix businessman, Buck launched a recall campaign in January and distributed more than 25,000 MECHAM FOR EX-GOVERNOR bumper stickers. "He is a polarizing, divisive leader," Buck contends. Under state law, Buck must wait four more months before starting to collect the 216,746 signatures necessary to force a re-election. "I don't know who is paying him," Mecham says dismissively. Even if the drive falters, Mecham's opponents hope the crusade will cool the Governor's ideological fire.

That may be idle dreaming. A former Sunday-school teacher who has run so often for Governor that he earned the nickname the "Harold Stassen of Arizona," Mecham squeezed into office with 40% of the vote in a three-way race that split the Democratic electorate. He blames "abuse from the press" for his current problems, and as far as the recall campaign is concerned, the veteran auto dealer shows no sign of offering voters any sort of rebate, much less a brand-new model.