Still, this is the other sharpened edge of the 'Entitlement Society' sword, unless they can change the entire system of government while in power, the government that wins by exploiting the mob's selfishness will find itself out on its ass when they can't deliver on basic services and the mob turns on them. It was grid power issues more than anything else that brought Gray Davis down.
I should note that this does not necessarily mean the successor gang of big-promising losers will necessarily be an improvement, just that (As many of the Roman Emperors learned to their cost), the allegience of the mob is very, very fickle.