Posted on 02/20/2009 8:01:43 AM PST by SmithL
SAN FRANCISCO -- California Republican and Democratic Party leaders, always at war, finally agree on a common enemy: the open primary.
A proposed constitutional amendment would go before voters in June 2010 instituting a "top-two" primary system, which would effectively eliminate party primary ballots, erase candidate party labels in primary elections and allow voters to choose the two candidates - of whatever party - who would compete in the general election.
An open primary would dissolve the current political primary system, and has the potential to seriously erode party power and change the entire landscape of state politics.
The measure was the work of Republican state Sen. Abel Maldonado of Santa Maria (Santa Barbara County), the swing vote Democrats needed to push through state budget legislation Thursday morning. That vote earned him the wrath of his party.
Maldonado heralded the passage of his SA4 - one of three constitutional amendments the moderate GOP legislator traded for his critically needed vote - as an important piece of legislation "that will allow us to come together and work more closely."
"It becomes part of what the governor calls the fourth leg of his stool - which is systemic reform" in a state where gerrymandering has produced safe legislative districts with virtually no political turnover, noted Barbara O'Connor, professor of political communication at Cal State Sacramento. "The theory is that it will produce more moderate candidates. ... People generally like it. And the parties hate it."
But it might not be easy to get a simple majority of the voters needed to put the amendment into the state Constitution. In 1998, California voters approved a "blanket" primary measure allowing them to vote in either primary; it was ruled unconstitutional...
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
Absolute insanity. This is how the GOP ended up with a Presidential nominee that received a paltry 37% of Republican votes.
bump for later
By the time it got to New Mexico, our only remaining choices were Paul and McCain. I was kinda hoping to be able to cast a vote for Hunter or Thompson.
Hell yeah, you can get an “Oh hell no!”
With no opposition for the Bamster in 2010, all his supporters will be crossing over to vote for the weakest Pubbie.........
Closed primaries should be the rule, but then, so should literacy tests for voters.
I’d also like to see voting privileges forfeited by people who stay indefinitely on welfare; there should be some point at which they are formally classified with idiots and children.
Won’t happen, I know.
With "whitey" already relegated to minority status, the race-based jockeying for control of the Democrat Party machinery is going to get ugly.
I think if you could do a “do over” next time it would be Paul, not McCain!
So California wants to become Louisiana, eh? Luck to them.
I, personally, would be fine with closed primaries, where only the members of each party can cast a vote in its primary. This would help prevent shenanigans such as Dems and Independents crossing over to help stick us with somebody like McKook.
They could then skip the primary part and vote the President directly from an open list.
What a BS idea.
Close Party primaries and be done with it.
Primaries absolutely must be closed for 2012.
The Messiah will have no DNC opposition freeing them to vote for another IDIOT like McCain.
and to avoid cross over voters, when a person changes politically parties, they can only vote in that parties primary in the following election, not the current one. Sort of a cooling off period :-)
Good point, but the implications related to a national race, primary in particular, hurts the GOP.
I voted for Paul in the primaries. Not because I wanted him as a first choice, but because I wanted McCain even less. Paul has a lot of work to do regarding foreign policy. Domestically, I like him.
If it’s endorsed by California Democrats and the SF Chronicle, you can bet it’s bad. California Republicans provide cover on cue.
When I first read that, I read Hunter S. Thompson.
I believe it has been established that John McCain’s primary victory was the result of crossover independent and Democrat voters.
Republicans did not get their choice.
This needs to change
Personally, I think that the Republicans should have closed primaries with the states with the smallest number of electoral votes holding elections in the first two (or three)weeks, then the states with the middle number of electoral votes in the next two or three weeks and lastly, the states with the most E.V.’s in the final two weeks.
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