UPDATE: PPIC has posted video of the event. See also George Skelton’s Los Angeles Times column: It was refreshing to re-inhale whiffs of odorous politics — to hear old lawmakers wax nostalgic about boozing, carousing and secretly cutting deals in smoke-filled rooms. Refreshing, because much of today’s poll-driven, spin-dependent, politically opportunistic legislating is offensive to… Continue Reading
Category Archives: Archive
Voter’s FIRST Doomed Without Democratic Support?
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… Continue Reading
OSU Symposium: Election Law and the Roberts Court
Rick Hasen’s Election Law blog points out an Ohio State University symposium (webcast here) on election law and the Roberts court. I’ve pasted links to some of the interesting redistricting articles from the Ohio State Law Journal below: Continue Reading
Fleischman on the Governor’s Support of Voters FIRST
I failed to link to Jon Fleischman’s FlashReport post yesterday on Governor Schwarzenegger’s support of the Voters FIRST redistricting reform initiative: Continue Reading
Real Facts About Redistricting Reform
There are a number of difficult decisions that face every redistricting reform author, and the current effort by the Governor, Common Cause, the League of Women Voters, and AARP is no exception. Clearly, decisions such as excluding Congress are controversial, as are questions about the application and screening process, and such questions should be raised… Continue Reading
Governor Schwarzenegger Supports Redistricting Reform: What Will the Parties Say?
The governor’s announcement clearly is a major coup for the Common Cause / AARP effort, especially coming with the announcement of the League of Women Voters endorsement. This is significant progress, especially since one assumes the Governor’s role as campaign chairman also brings plenty of campaign funds. The next question is what position the parties… Continue Reading
Redistricting Reform & Schwarzenegger – AM Roundup UPDATED
Bill Bradley provides video of yesterday’s press conference: Read Bradley’s post as well: Continue Reading
Governor Schwarzenegger Supports Voters FIRST Redistricting Reform
Steven Maviglio (the guy is fast) had the first online mention, a pre-emptive strike, at California Majority Report this morning: Schwarzenegger has endorsed every variety of redistricting to come down the pike. Nevermind the details that could likely tilt map-making into the hands of Republicans. Nevermind that there’s no similar system anywhere in the United… Continue Reading
Catch-Up: Recent Redistricting Press UPDATED
A recent Mercury News editorial says: Proponents of Proposition 93 will have to collect some big bucks quickly if they’re going to compete with a suddenly massive campaign to defeat it. Yes on 93 has collected about $4 million, but it spent about two-thirds getting the initiative on the ballot…. No on 93 has collected… Continue Reading
Cavala v. The Press
As more evidence of what I said in the previous post, Bill Cavala (who was also kind enough to leave us a comment) recently said that Sacramento Bee columnist “Dan Walters should have been a writer for PRAVDA” while Maviglio looked on approvingly. This is mostly because Walters thinks that the Democratic leadership “reneged on… Continue Reading