Or think of it this way, it will also give the sea of red surrounding the dense blue centers an actual chance to push through over the "gimme' hordes. It works both ways. It helps combat Gerrymandering and in conjunction with the Redistricting Commission it could bring badly needed change to the way this state has previously effectively killed the party system.
If the Republicans can't get a candidate to come second in the first round, how good would their chances be in the election anyway? And a second-round race between two Democrats should be a lot more likely to produce a centrist Democrat as the winner than a contest between a Republican and a Democrat chosen in an all-Democratic primary.
On the other hand, as far as I can tell the open primary is still on a first-past-the-post basis. That seems to be barking mad: it should ensure that the elections will all have unofficial pre-primaries, quasi-official party candidates anointed without any election process, spoiler-candidate insanity, or some combination of the three.
The problem is as follows, Leo: California is a Dem leaning state. In general, our options are extremely limited, but we do have the ability to vote for a person we like. In the new order, we will have the ability to vote for who we like in the primary, but two people who share the same values, the same political positions will end up being the end runners.
The issue isn't a centrist Democrat, which I believe is a fallacy. Why create a centrist Democrat? Why would anyone woo the Republicans at all? There's no reason. They win elections every year without the Republican vote by virtue of the fact that there are just more Democrats in the state as a whole.
The primary becomes a pre-election. I'm not thrilled with the concept as a whole.
Upon first read, I thought it might be okay. My hatred of Prop 14 even surpasses my usual voting guideline of "What CTA Votes For, I Vote Against!". I think this is the first (possibly only) time that I have voted with CTA.
Again, I'm a little disgusted.
I'm not surprised that it passed. There are a bunch of people out there that are thrilled that there will probably never be another Republican candidate.
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On the other hand, as far as I can tell the open primary is still on a first-past-the-post basis. That seems to be barking mad: it should ensure that the elections will all have unofficial pre-primaries, quasi-official party candidates anointed without any election process, spoiler-candidate insanity, or some combination of the three.
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The issue isn't a centrist Democrat, which I believe is a fallacy. Why create a centrist Democrat? Why would anyone woo the Republicans at all? There's no reason. They win elections every year without the Republican vote by virtue of the fact that there are just more Democrats in the state as a whole.
The primary becomes a pre-election. I'm not thrilled with the concept as a whole.
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That said, all elections are popularity contests. :)
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Again, I'm a little disgusted.
I'm not surprised that it passed. There are a bunch of people out there that are thrilled that there will probably never be another Republican candidate.
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