-Caveat Lector-
Begin forwarded message:
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Date: August 23, 2007 4:18:21 PM PDT
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: Stealing the Vote in California
Ca pushes back from GOP power grab
NY Times:
California Republicans Up to Their Usual Dirty Tricks
by Todd Beeton, Wed Aug 22, 2007
http://securingamerica.com/ccn/node/
13096#comment-234118#comment-234118
As I wrote last week, California Republicans are trying to fix the
2008 election by altering the way California allots its 55
electoral votes. The initiative that's been submitted for the June
2008 ballot, if passed by voters, would guarantee the Republican
nominee 20 or so of California's electoral votes, the equivalent of
Ohio. The New York Times op ed page (behind firewall) weighs in
today and calls the scheme what it is: a Republican dirty trick.
The initiative, backed by a shadowy group called Californians for
Equal Representation, is being promoted as an effort to more
accurately reflect the choices of the state’s voters, and to force
candidates to pay more attention to California, which is usually
not in play in presidential elections. It is actually a power grab
on behalf of Republicans. [...]
If voters understand that the initiative is essentially an
elaborate dirty trick posing as reform, they are likely to vote
against it. But judging by the misleading name of their
organization, the initiative’s backers want to fool the public into
thinking the change would make elections more fair. They are
planning on putting it to a vote in June 2008, an election when
there will be few other things on the ballot, and turnout is
expected to be extremely low. [...]
If the initiative passes, it would do serious damage to American
democracy.
On Friday I wrote about the Democratic pushback campaign against
this power grab.
That escalated yesterday when Democrats announced their own
competing ballot initiative, which, if passed, would instead allot
California's electoral votes to the national popular vote winner
(as opposed to the California popular vote winner as is currently
the practice.)
So far, only Maryland is officially on board with this system,
which would go into effect once states with 270 electoral votes
among them (i.e. a majority of electoral votes) ratify it. (There
is still a question as to whether the method by which California
apportions its electoral votes can be determined by voters as
opposed to the legislature but in the absence of a definitive
ruling, we have to consider this power grab a real threat.)
Check out the local perspective over at Calitics here and here.
As if that weren't enough, yesterday also saw the first release of
polling on the Republican-backed initiative, which shows that while
it looks OK to people at first glance, the more people hear about
what a brazen scheme it really is, the more they dislike it. The
well-respected California Field Poll (pdf) found that Californians
support the measure 47% to 35% when they are just read the title,
but once they hear an explanation of the measure's purpose, the
margin of support drops to 7 points, 49% to 42%. This is all good
news for the proposition's opponents for, as Julia at calitics writes:
To actually be viable for passage at this stage of the game, an
initiative in California needs to be polling at least in the
mid-50s. Support for initiatives tends to degrade over time. That
is compounded by the tendency for voters who are unsure of the
measure to vote against it. The status quo for these voters is
better than supporting something they are not confident about. This
initiative is in real trouble and it is not helped much when voters
learn more about it.
In addition, Rasmussen polled nationally and found:
In a theoretical sense, 45% of voters nationwide think that’s a
good idea. Thirty percent (30%) disagree while 25% are not sure.
However, even that tepid level of support dissipates when voters
learn that a change in California could significantly increase the
number of Republican Electoral Votes. Once that is factored into
the equation, support drops to 31% and opposition increases to 43%.
The lack of enthusiasm among voters at this early stage won't stop
our pushback against the measure, of course, and you can do your
part by signing the Courage Campaign's petition opposing it.
We can't count out California Republicans when it comes to selling
an outlandish scheme, nor can we count on the courts to uphold
common sense and fair election results.
You can have your "Under God" back when I get my "Liberty and
Justice For All" back.
--synthetic environment
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