Meg Whitman’s campaign has been issuing a steady stream of press releases demanding that Jerry Brown take positions on all nine measures, Props 19-27, on the November statewide ballot.
One wonders why she bothers.
Brown isn’t going to take a position on each measure because she asks him to. Nor should he. A candidate is under no obligation to wade into measures. In fact, the political culture in some countries with direct democracy is that candidates and elected officials should stay out of such matters, which are decisions left for the people.
And it’s hard to imagine voters care. Do you know anyone clamoring for Jerry Brown’s position on Prop 21? Me neither. What we could use from Brown are workable plans on budget taxes (as opposed to the plan he has released, which relies on the idea that Jerry Brown has magical powers not possessed by other mortals that enables him to convince legislators to do what he wants them to do).
Whitman’s team seems to be doing this because it gives the campaign apparatus something to say. Whitman herself put out her own positions on all the measures – good for her – in September.
It’s also a bit strange for someone who has taken such a casual approach to voting to be demanding that other people weigh in on ballot measures. If initiatives on the ballot are so important, why didn’t she bother to vote?