Can We Set the Captive(s) Free?
CA is captured
Outsiders and even some insiders go on about how dumb we California voters are. But if a person is going to talk about the state of elections in California with even the tiniest bit of knowledge, he/she need to add this term to their vocabulary:
Jungle primary.
In 2010, the state passed a new law requiring candidates to participate in a single consolidated open primary, often called the “jungle primary.” In these primaries, the top two vote-getters end up on the election ballot, where they square off against each other. This system has driven many Republicans off the election ballot, as the top two slots are often won by Democrats.
Some Republicans originally backed the jungle primary law, including then-Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. They hoped it would help moderate candidates in elections and thus make the state more bipartisan.
But what has happened is the exact opposite. This law made California ripe for one-party rule.
As The Daily Signal’s Fred Lucas wrote in The American Conservative, it led to bizarre absurdities, such as Democrat Sen. Dianne Feinstein being labeled the “Republican” option in a Senate race due to the fact that her only opponent was a more militant progressive than her.
Proposition 14 heralded the implementation of CA jungle primaries. Many Republicans voted for it in good faith - including me, probably - without comprehending its long-term effects and long before I started putting the pieces together about how corrupted our state’s election edifice is.
the time I started noticing the pattern, the transformation was well underway.
Some of you may recognize the quote from my California Transformed series, but repetition is necessary.
Should we try to get Proposition 14 repealed? Well here’s the kicker: in a fully compromised election system like that of California, the odds look quite bad for a fair count. (This is why the recall of Gavin Newsom failed a few years back.)
Here’s what would improve those odds: mandatory voter ID. I would like to see that become the law of the land.
And I’m thinking about what I could do to help these things happen.
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I owe two months rent, a little over $3000 and I’d like to send my landlord $800 tonight.
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