This election season gives understanding to observers of the electoral process why politicians seem to score so low with the public when tested in polls. Sure, many people give a thumbs down to politicians for their performance in office, but looking at the standards they set during election campaigns only strengthens the negative feeling toward politicians.
What is sleazy is that politicians use this anti-politician attitude to their advantage.
Take a voter guide mailing I received over the weekend. One of the items argued for a No vote on Proposition 20 and a Yes vote on Proposition 27. As a quick reminder, Proposition 20, if passed, would require redistricting of congressional districts by the newly formed independent citizens redistricting commission, instead of leaving redistricting in the hands of legislators. Proposition 27, on the other hand, would do away with the redistricting commission all together and allow the legislature to pull together districts for both congress and the state legislature.
Or as the shorthand for this formula goes, if Proposition 27 passes, the legislators can choose their own voters instead of the other way around.
The mailing I received screamed: Don’t let the politicians fool you: Vote No on 20 and Yes on 27!
More than ironic since if a voter followed this advice the politicians would indeed fool them.
Prop 27, itself, is an underhanded initiative that frustrates voters who are often heard to say, ‘I get confused with initiatives because "yes" sometimes means "no" and "no" sometimes means "yes."
That shell game is in full display with Prop 27 with the politicians running against themselves to achieve what they want: an end to the citizens’ redistricting commission.
The mailing I received came the same day as the weekend Wall Street Journal with its lead editorial, The Pelosi Gerrymander, railing against California politicians fighting over the redistricting initiatives.
The editorial cited the smoking gun evidence on the thinking behind Proposition 27 by repeating a decade old quote from Democratic Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez.
Democratic Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez famously captured the corruption and cronyism of the current redistricting process in 2001 when she told the Orange County Register that paying $20,000 "is nothing to keep your seat. I spend $2 million [campaigning] every year. If my colleagues are smart, they’ll pay their $20,000, and [Democratic consultant] Michael [Berman] will draw the district they can win in. Those who have refused to pay? God help them."
Michael Berman is one of the masterminds behind Proposition 27.
It is too bad people who receive the deceptive mailing did not also get a copy of the Journal editorial.
If the voters put two and two together not only will they defeat Proposition 27 and pass Proposition 20, but they will bring the politicians score of approval in the next poll down to single digits.