The recall effort aimed at California Gov. Gavin Newsom is steadily marching toward gathering the 1.5 million signatures needed to reach the ballot.

The prospect that the effort may reach that goal before the March 17 deadline has Democrats worried:

California Democrats and their political backers are bracing for a campaign nevertheless as recall organizers turn in hundreds of thousands of signatures. State lawmakers are proclaiming their support for Newsom, seeking to tamp down any signs of disunity. Interest groups and donors who would be called upon to fund a recall defense are quietly ramping up, with one union launching the first public counteroffensive.

Newsom and the Democratic apparatus that runs the Golden State has every incentive to go to war against a recall effort. Holding the state’s top office is a plum for any political party. That’s why some are urging Newsom to get busy preparing now for a recall campaign:

“I do think at some point he needs to open a recall committee,” said Democratic consultant Andrew Acosta, “start taking this s— seriously, and start going to war.”

“Going to war” over an office that is, in theory, a public trust. That’s what is wrong with politics and the major political parties, in a nutshell.