Would non-partisan primaries make a better democracy in California? On the next Your Call, we'll facilitate a debate on Proposition 14--the proposition on the June 8th ballot that would eliminate party primaries in favor of a "top two" primary in which all candidates participate. Would that set-up make Sacramento more effective?
Join us live at 11 or send us an email at feedback@yourcallradio.org. What kind of candidates and campaigns would be strengthened by a "top two" primary? Where do you stand on Prop. 14? It's Your Call, with Rose Aguilar and you.
Guests:
Richard Winger, editor of Ballot Access News (No on 14)
Brian Brennan, Senior Director of Member Services for the Silicon Valley Leadership Group
Click to Listen: Does California need a Top Two primary?
The SF Bay Guardian opposes Prop 14. All the Third Parties oppose it. The ACLU of California opposes it. The California Labor Federation opposes it. The California Teachers Association opposes it.
ReplyDeleteWho supports it?
The California Chamber of Commerce, the California Police Chiefs Association, and the California chapter of the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP).
It's another pull-the-wool-over-voters eyes proposition with most of the promotion of it including blatant lies. Big surprise.
See: http://www.stoptoptwo.org/
Victronix forgot a few of the folks who oppose Prop 14: Steve Poizner, Meg Whitman, Chuck Devore, and the most ideological conservatives in the state.
ReplyDeleteWhy are BOTH major parties opposing Prop. 14? Because, as the LA Times puts it, the measure "upends rules that Democrats and Republicans have mastered and used to protect safe seats for their members — and to protect them from challenges by organizations such as the Green Party."
See the full piece at http://articles.latimes.com/2010/may/26/opinion/la-ed-prop14-20100526.
>>Why are BOTH major parties opposing Prop. 14?
ReplyDeleteIf it were only the major parties, that would be reason to look more closely at what's going on. But the fact is that all the non-Titanic parties oppose it as well -- Greens, Libertarians, Peace & Freedom, etc. Why do they oppose it? Because they don't want to disappear off the November ballots, which is what Prop 14 will do.
Meg Whitman is joined in opposing it by the most progressive legislators in Sacramento, i.e., Sandre Swanson, Lori Hancock, Mark Leno, etc.
It's a fake "open" primary because it closes elections for all but the top two. Prop 14 is like a law that allows only the top two newspapers or magazines to hit the newsstands. More democracy? Now why would the big corporate interests and the Chamber of Commerce want that?