Hey! Rank and file Kossacks! Kos Kewl Kidz! Our avowed goal here at DKos is to elect Democrats, right? Well, a major story, about how that could get much harder, has been brewing, and even made Saturday's NY Times, although with an idiotic spin, of which more later.
The story has never hit the big time on DKos, despite having been diaried multiple times, here, here, here, here, and also by RDemocrat, Bartimaeus Blue and MrWiggins Esq. Apologies to others whose vigilance I have overlooked in this post.
To wit: there is now a Rethuglican plan to put up a ballot issue -- 07-0032 -- the so calledPresidential Election Reform Act, which would award California's 55 electoral votes, not on the usual winner take all basis, but proportionally, by congressional districts, according to the winner in each district.
The NY Times gives its usual neuronally challenged spin:
Frustrated by a system that has marginalized many states in the presidential election process, or seeking partisan advantage, state lawmakers, political party leaders and voting rights advocates across the country are stepping up efforts to change the rules of the game, even as the presidential campaign advances.
In California, this has led to a nascent Republican bid to apportion the state’s electoral votes by Congressional district, not by statewide vote, in a move that most everyone agrees would benefit Republican candidates. Democrats in North Carolina are mulling a similar move, because it would help Democrats there.
Look, this vote chasing in the Carolinas is fine, but the real story here is that the attempt to pick the Democratic electoral pocket of its most treasured prize, and assure a Rethuglican lock on the presidency into the forseeable future.
Given the relatively low threshhold for placing a ballot initiative before the voters of California, and the fact that is legal to collect petition signatures for pay, I forsee no simple way of stopping this thing from making in onto the ballot. What will then be needed is a massive effort of voter education and activism, to counteract what will be a huge Rethuglican effort to spin this as non-partisan fairness.