Tim Herdt of the Ventura County Star says:
The most recent statewide survey on the question, done in September by the Public Policy Institute of California, found 66 percent support for the notion of creating an independent commission to draw political district maps.
But don’t let that number fool you. The fact is, this new redistricting initiative has only a long-shot chance for success.
The reason is that voters are intuitively suspicious of any proposal that purports to be nonpartisan — and opposition campaigns are always happy to oblige those suspicions by revealing a real or imagined hidden agenda.
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What all this means is that Schwarzenegger will need more than the League of Women Voters by his side. He will also need some big-name Democrats.
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The two most promising recruits would be the state’s last two Democratic governors: Gray Davis and Jerry Brown. If one or both were to join Schwarzenegger in assuring voters that this initiative is a politically neutral reform, it could have a chance.
I’m not sure how much the support of Gray Davis, absent that of the Democratic party or other significant Democratic leaders, would singlehandedly put the initiative over the top. Of course, a lack of support from both parties would likely sink the idea pretty fast.
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