Sunday, September 16, 2007

A Presidential Election "Reform" Act in CA?

Living on the Left Coast as I do, I always watch California politics with more than a casual interest, so it's with some alarm that I view a well-financed attempt to wrest some presidential election political power away from the Dems and give it to the Rethugs.

On the ballot in California's primary election next spring is the Orwellian-named Presidential Election Reform Act, which would end the winner-take-all selection of Electorial College electors (the law in most states), and substitute a congressional-district allocation, based on which candidate won that district.

On the whole, it's not really a bad idea, but it needs to be put into place nationwide at the same time, and we don't see those assholes on the right agitating for that, do we? Could it be that their safely "red" states all of a sudden wouldn't be so safely red if all those liberal votes in the urban districts actually counted for something?

But as it stands in California, it's nothing more than a backhanded attempt by wealthy Rethugs to get what they can't get using the usual process, and that's more electors for whoever the Rethug candidate turns out to be. Something like 22 districts carried Baby Doc in 2004, and if those numbers hold true for next year, in a close election those 22 electoral votes could make the difference in who is the ultimate winner.

The only problem with it is that it seems to be unconstitutional -- not that it matters in the long run, because that constitutional crisis decision would ultimately be decided by ... the US Supreme Court, which sadly is packed with Baby Doc appointees and others who are beholden to the BFEE. You don't have to look any farther back than the same Supreme Court that overrode Florida state laws and appointed their own fair-haired moron to the presidency.

So all of you who live in California -- and all of you who have friends and family who live there -- be alert to this travesty and work actively to defeat it.

That's the best course of action to take now, until we finally decide to get rid of the patently unfair Electoral College, once and for all.

1 Comment:

Granny said...

We're working on it. I'm in a barely blue county surrounded by red. I can imagine what that "law" would do.