I’ve been warning about this on the blog and in every forum I come across, Prop 14 will result in more Dem-on-Dem fights. It will be a drain on the Democratic party, and will result in a net loss for the party in terms of resources. Don’t trust me? Well, how about the Center for Govermental Studies. Goo-Goos seem to like them, anyway. So, how will they like this:<\/p>\n
CGS broke down the registration and voter-turnout figures for recent primary elections and found that more than one-third of general election races could end up being fought between two members of the same party. Most of those single-party contests would be between two Democrats (largely in Los Angeles County and the Bay Area). Just two of the races analyzed in the study would have resulted in a general election between two Republicans.<\/p>\n
The report also found that campaigns would be “significantly more expensive” under Proposition 14, mainly because candidates would have to campaign to a broader base of voters, as opposed to just voters in their party, in the primary.(SacBee<\/a>) <\/p><\/blockquote>\n
In other words, Dem primaries end up getting played out twice. But because there just aren’t that many Republicans left in the state, theirs end up as snoozers into the general. You can read the full report (PDF) here<\/a>.<\/p>\n
Prop 14 is bad for the Democratic Party, bad for third parties, and well, not so great even for the Republican Party. It will make for much more expensive elections, and thus politicians that are even more susceptible to the sultry tones of the corporate lobbyist. <\/p>\n
Yet somehow, St. Abel Maldonado is playing this out as a good government measure. As the results in Washington and Louisiana have shown, this is anything but good government. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I’ve been warning about this on the blog and in every forum I come across, Prop 14 will result in more Dem-on-Dem fights. It will be a drain on the Democratic party, and will result in a net loss for the party in terms of resources. Don’t trust me? Well, how about the Center for Govermental Studies. Goo-Goos seem to like them, anyway. So, how will they like this:<\/p>\n
CGS broke down the registration and voter-turnout figures for recent primary elections and found that more than one-third of general election races could end up being fought between two members of the same party. Most of those single-party contests would be between two Democrats (largely in Los Angeles County and the Bay Area). Just two of the races analyzed in the study would have resulted in a general election between two Republicans.<\/p>\n
The report also found that campaigns would be “significantly more expensive” under Proposition 14, mainly because candidates would have to campaign to a broader base of voters, as opposed to just voters in their party, in the primary.(SacBee<\/a>) <\/p><\/blockquote>\n