Yes, today, Califonia will hold its second primary of 2008. Of course, this time around voter turnout will be small, and interest slight. The issues this time around are local: judges, city bond issues, school boards, county supervisors, water district officials, propositions, etc. Ah, but my fellow Californians, imagine if we had not had our presidential primary in February.
When the Califonia legislature moved the presidential portion of the primary to February it wasn't really about the presidential campaign. It was about meeting a legislated deadline that would allow selected state legislators to avoid strict term-limit rules and to extend their tenure in the legislature. Sure, state politicians gave a tip of the conical hat to the notion of empowering Califonia voters in the presidential primary process. But this was just a rhetorical feint. At the time the schedule was changed, the Democratic majority believed that Senator Clinton's nomination was inevitable. This feint, however, was a useful dodge, as many Californians have been on a slow burn for decades as they watched relatively tiny and homogeneous Iowa and New Hampshire exercise outsized influence on the nominating process. (Sometimes the slow burn has exploded, as in 1980. That year, Californians were greeted with the announcement from the networks that Ronald Reagan had won the presidency--3 hours before the polls closed!). Well, my fellow lotus eaters, this time we really blew it.
Oh, I know. I can hear you out there in the heartland. "Californians only care about their mango-kiwi whip full body wraps. There's something about the sun out there that has caused them to stop evolving." True. But, being self-involved and narcissistic doesn't make us unique, only good Americans. Here's the thing, there's 36,000,000 of us. We are the sixth largest economy in the world. We are the most diverse state in the country. We have surfing and artichokes. We know you know these things. We know you secretly envy us, but you twist your neurotic jealousy into mockery. It's not fair!
But, I'm not really talking to you outlanders today. Fellow Californians, you know that the politicians from both parties either take us for granted, or dump all over us. Democrats think we're a cash machine. Perhaps they think we're free-spending chumps because we receive only .78 cents back for every $1.00 we send to the federal treasury. Perhaps because our Electoral College votes are an almost automatic gimme for Democrats. Republicans sneer at our blind adherence to Pelosiism, and they generally crap all over us: the Bush administration has tried to use the EPA--the EPA!--to block California from imposing higher fuel efficiency standards on cars--for example. The DEA doesn't want us to have our medical marijuana (and let me tell you Doctor, my back really hurts).
So much for the elevated notion of states being the laboratories of democracy. Maybe George Bush shits all over us simply because he doesn't know the difference between the words laboratory and lavatory. Ah, my fellow Californians, we know all these political truths--which makes it all the more painful to contemplate the opportunity our legislators have taken from us.
Had we kept the presidential primary on the traditional schedule, we would be the big dog today. Montana? That's where we go to buy trophy ranches and drive up land values. South Dakota? Where is South Dakota exactly? Do they have Starbucks there? But no, once again we're out in the cold. (Well, not literally, it's actually really nice here today). Sure we voted in February, and our votes count. But, really, shouldn't we be more important? Shouldn't our opinions be decisive? Shouldn't we get to have all the attention, all the excitement, all the zazz? We may never see a primary race like this again, and we blew it. How could we not have known it would turn out this way? How? How? How? I guess we'll just have to comfort ourselves as best we can--perhaps--for a change this afternoon, we'll try something different, perhaps the mango-rhubarb whip full body wrap. Ah, that'll get it.
An existential note: I predict this diary will be pushed down by 2 Breaking! Pfleger Removed, 3 Open Letter to Clinton Supporters, 2 Hillary for Veep, and 5 It's Time to Unify diaries. I give this diary a shelf-life of 21 minutes.