Richard E. Cohen’s article in the National Journal mentions some demographic tensions that are on the increase nationwide, but especially in the greater Los Angeles area: A usually unspoken aspect of the Democratic campaign’s dynamic, especially in urban areas, is the tension between African-American and Hispanic voters. So-called black-versus-brown conflicts have been especially pronounced in… Continue Reading
Author Archives: Rose Institute
Dr. Pitney's California Super Tuesday Primer
See Pitney’s article in National Review. A summary of his six points to consider: First, for many Californians, the election has already ended. Second, while vote totals are psychologically important, presidential nominations hinge on delegate counts. Third, independents can vote in the Democratic primary, but not in the Republican one. Fourth, in spite of all… Continue Reading
Who's Gonna Show Up? UPDATED
Dan Walters wonders how many people will turn out tomorrow: It’s been decades since California played a real role in choosing presidential nominees, at least back to 1972 and perhaps 1968, depending on how one judges such things. And turnouts were much higher then, 72.2 percent in 1968 and 71 percent in 1972. But even… Continue Reading
Dr. Pitney on the Democratic Primary
From The Charlotte Observer‘s campaign analysis: “For Republicans, Super Tuesday may be the beginning of the end. For Democrats, it may only be the end of the beginning,” said John Pitney, a political science professor at Claremont McKenna College in California. From Bennett Roth’s Continue Reading
Dr. Pitney on Proposition 93
From Tom Chorneau’s San Francisco Chronicle article on the recent Field Poll revealing that Prop. 93 is losing support: Political experts said that as voters became more aware of the measure and its implications, the less they liked it.”They smelled a rat,” said Jack Pitney, a professor of government and politics at Claremont McKenna College.… Continue Reading
Redistricting Roundup
The Los Angeles Times editorial page is happy California is finally getting some love due to our earlier primary. Add their editorial to the wave of press on the subject (and read Dr. Pitney’s “Attention Must Be Paid” post). Although the change in date was “all good,” the Times says: We were hoping for still… Continue Reading
Electoral Vote Allocation & Redistricting
Matt Johnston’s reaction to Sam Hirsch’s recent Michigan Law Review piece arguing against the proposal to award electoral college votes from California by Congressional district is worth reading: If the California plan were couple with redistricting reform, in which districts are drawn to not only be geographically compact but to also be competitive to the… Continue Reading
California: Attention Must Be Paid, Press Edition UPDATEDx2
On the same theme of Dr. Pitney’s post below, see the following recent articles and columns about how California’s primary actually matters: Cathleen Decker’s Los Angeles Times article: To California political activists who have labored for years under the mantra that the state doesn’t matter in the presidential primaries, 2008 has been the campaign that… Continue Reading
California: Attention Must Be Paid
Californians don’t get much attention from the national press corps. I’m not talking about celebrities. I’m talking about pavement people – the kind who get up and face traffic jams at 5 o’clock in the morning. Normally, these folks don’t show up on television news unless they’re crawling out from rubble. There are plenty of… Continue Reading
Dr. Pitney on CA Presidential Primary
From John Hill’s article in the Sacramento Bee: The two parties’ complex systems for allocating delegates will shape strategy in the last days of the election and may well influence the outcome, experts say. The statewide vote totals, of course, will play a part in the results – both in terms of the delegate count,… Continue Reading