How is our representative democracy working in California?
How is our representative democracy working in California?
In a word, dismally.
The June 3rd primary election selected party nominees for congress and the state legislature.
While the number of registered voters in California continues to increase — 16,123,970 as of last May – fewer and fewer participated in the primary election, reaching an historic low this election cycle, with less than 29 percent of California voters going to the polls.
The consequences of this are the ridiculously low number of votes that the top vote-getters received while winning their primary nomination.
In a hard-fought Democratic primary election in the 23rd Senate District, a district that stretches from Fairfax Boulevard in Los Angeles to downtown Oxnard in Ventura County, former Assembly Member Fran Pavley defeated her opponent, Assembly Member Lloyd Levine with 42,719 votes, which was 66 percent of the votes cast.
That 66 percent number looks impressive, but there are 238,682 registered Democrats in that senate district, meaning Pavley won with only 19 percent of the district’s registered Democrats.
January 20, 2009…When the World will be Right Again
I don’t know about you but I can’t wait until January 20, 2009 and Barack Obama is sworn in as the 44th President of the United States. That is the day when all will be right with the world again as we shed the dark and evil Bush Administration for the enlightened and visionary Obama Administration. Imagine the breathless pronouncements we will hear from the media as all things are made right in the First 100 Days of the return to Camelot.
Iran Drops Nuclear Program – Iranian President Ahmadinejad today announced that Iran will halt its nuclear program and dismantle all its facilities. The announcement was made after President Obama called the Iranian leader and requested that it be done. Ahmadinejad also said he wants to go to Israel so he can participate in Israeli Independence Day festivities in May. “I love the Jews. It was Bush who made me say all those crazy things. I am getting counseling now and it has really helped.” Secretary of State Joseph Biden hailed the news as the “beginning of a beautiful friendship between the Mullahs of Iran and the U.S”. The Mullahs have also agreed to take anger management courses to better cope with their “inner demons” and their “feelings” about Israel. In a related development, Hezbollah and Hamas laid down their weapons and recognized Israel, saying in a prepared statement that the last 60 years of terrorism against the Jewish state was all a “misunderstanding”.
Bin Laden Surrenders to U.S. Forces in Afghanistan – Public enemy Number One quietly walked into a U.S. Army Ranger base near Kandahar and gave himself up today.
If… if… if…
The arguments on redistricting offered earlier this week by Joel and Tony really amount to a series of hypothetical statements that don’t square with California’s political reality:
If the “yes’ campaign” were to convince voters that the redistricting ballot initiative is something it’s not (populist and anti-politician)….
If the redistricting issues were to attract detailed, thorough coverage from a shrinking California media that now shuns serious topics…
If Don Perata were the Easter Bunny…
I’m not a doctor, but I enjoy practicing medicine without a license. Recently, I’ve begun diagnosing a California disease called Redistricting Fantasy Syndrome. Most of the population doesn’t know enough about redistricting to be susceptible to the disease. But in certain elite precincts, RFS has become a minor epidemic, striking down otherwise sensible moderate “goo goos” who persist in the belief that good process is good for you.