{"id":1639,"date":"2010-05-27T03:17:11","date_gmt":"2010-05-27T10:17:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/?p=1639"},"modified":"2010-05-27T03:17:11","modified_gmt":"2010-05-27T10:17:11","slug":"california-a-novel-initiative","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/2010\/05\/27\/california-a-novel-initiative\/","title":{"rendered":"California: A Novel Initiative"},"content":{"rendered":"

I have not decided how I like this one yet, but I\u2019m throwing it out for your evaluation.<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\"Election\"<\/a> In another indication of how frustrated voters have grown with politics as usual, California \u2014 home of initiative-happy democracy \u2014 is considering a radical overhaul. <\/p>\n

On June 8, voters will decide the fate of a ballot measure that would replace traditional primaries in state and Congressional elections with, effectively, two rounds of voting. All candidates would run in the first round, and the top two vote-getters \u2014 regardless of party affiliation, or unaffiliation \u2014 would then face each other in the general election. Voters\u2019 ultimate choice could be two Republicans or two Democrats, or two candidates with high name recognition, or deep pockets, or populist appeal. <\/p>\n

Supporters, including Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Lt. Gov. Abel Maldonado, both Republicans, have been promoting the measure \u2014 Proposition 14 \u2014 as a kind of electoral panacea, saying it could encourage political moderates and increase turnout in primaries where hard-line candidates often win. And in a state saddled with a $19 billion deficit, high unemployment and low morale, the promise of new blood in Sacramento seems to be a potent one; the latest polls show the measure favored by a majority of voters, and support growing. <\/p>\n

\u201cI think people are disappointed in their government,\u201d Mr. Maldonado said. \u201cAnd that\u2019s why they are supporting this.\u201d <\/p>\n

But political parties hate the idea. <\/p>\n

\u201cThere is zero evidence to suggest the initiative would have the results its proponents claim,\u201d said Ron Nehring, the chairman of the California Republican Party. \u201cWe firmly believe that initiative will limit choice.\u201d <\/p>\n

Proposition 14 has already performed a miracle, unifying the Democratic and Republican Parties in this polarized state capital. Both have joined a catch-all opposition that includes the state\u2019s Green Party, its Libertarians, the American Independent Party, the socialist Peace and Freedom Party, members of the \u201cbirther\u201d movement, and Cindy Sheehan, the liberal antiwar activist. <\/p>\n

Small parties, in particular, are unhappy with the proposition, saying it would box them out of general elections, which they say would most likely be populated by better-known and better-financed candidates\u2026<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Inserted from <NY Times<\/a>><\/p>\n

On the plus side, this could increase voter turnout.  In the minus side, it tends to marginalize the extremes of both left and right.  I think I\u2019m against this, because I think anyone who can gather the necessary signatures has a right to be on the general ballot.  What do you think?<\/font><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I have not decided how I like this one yet, but I\u2019m throwing it out for your evaluation. In another indication of how frustrated voters have grown with politics as usual, California \u2014 home of initiative-happy democracy \u2014 is considering a radical overhaul. On June 8, voters will decide the fate of a ballot measure […]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1639","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","category-5-id","post-seq-1","post-parity-odd","meta-position-corners","fix"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1639","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1639"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1639\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1639"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1639"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1639"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}