Crazy system!
WOW⌠imagine that⌠a system where the winner(s) of the popular vote get the prize. Seems to me like both parties support using an alternative.
The system can and does lock out one party or the other, most often to the benefit of the Democrats It leads to some races where it is hard for a Democrat to break through. The national party is probably not as well positioned to pick winners and losers as the state party. Maybe we should just let the people decide. Of course that could move the party left over time and that does not set will with the Democratic money people.
I canât for the life of me understand why having a good relationship with Washington Dems is considered a drawback. These are the people a Rep has to work with in order to get anything accomplished for their district, after all. Practicality, people.
You donât get why being connected to people who lost 1,000 seats nationwide and work to advance the interests of their donors instead of the people that voted them in could seen as a negative?
Maybe itâs time to take another look at how a representative system is supposed to work.
Democracy, people!
Precisely. Explains why the California Democratic Party allowed this stupidity to come into existence. Itâs the Dem money that keeps progressives down in primaries; Dem money that promotes repug-lites who lost to real repugs; itâs Dem money that demoralizes the grass roots and keeps dem voters at home instead of voting.
Sure, Democracy ⌠blah ⌠blah. Now if those damn progressives will just get out of the way everything will be fine, like it use to be.
I think candidates who reflexively rail against Washington and show no ability to work with the National Democrats are not going to accomplish much for their voters or their party or anyone except themselves.
The only hitch is weâre handcuffed to a two-party system. The jungle primaries donât jibe with this reality and can lead to single-party elections. In a vacuum, I donât like the DNC actions here, but when the alternative is having two Râs running for a seat that D has a shot at winning if theyâre on the ballotâŚ
In a 60/4O Dem- leaning district with two Republicans running and 4 Democrats running, what happens? If the candidates on each side split their partyâs votes equally, you are looking at two Republicans with 20% each and four Democrats with 15% each. Which means in Californiaâs jungle primary that only the two Republicans make it to the general. Given that the district is 60% Democratic, this is not precisely the peopleâs will.
If any one of the Democrats had made it to the general, theyâd have won the popular vote.
No voting system is perfect but this is an obvious hazard.
Most frequently one politician on each side will pull ahead of her rivals, but not always.
Letting âthe people decideâ in this instance means letting those activated enough to vote in the primary decide. â which in a given district may or may not resemble the people who vote in the general.
In a jungle primary in a moderate district this may mean that the jungle primary goes to the one Republican running and the guy who prevailed with say 15 percent of the vote on the Democratic side with 7 people running. A candidate who has a small percentage wildly enthusiastic may well prevail in such a primary while having no chance whatsoever in the general.
This is too similar to the kind of democracy thatâs put Paul LePage into the governorâs mansion in Maine for the past eight years.
The Jungle Primary is just another in a long line of election gimmicks that ends up disenfranchising groups of undesirable voters. Itâs no substitute for a real runoff election.
If the progressives were so wildly popular, theyâd be running the country by now. Doesnât seem to be happening.
CA-21. Huerta bailed. CA-22. Does Janz have a chance? CA-23. Tatiana Matta could give McCarthy a run for it, if she makes it to the top tier. GOP supports Wendy Reed, who got creamed last time around.
I live in CA39 (Royceâs district) and filled out my ballot yesterday. There are 17 candidates for his seat: 7 Rs, 6 Dems, 2 American Independents, and 2 no party preference. I know of one Dem who dropped out and is not on the ballot. Should be interesting.
Donât know about any other states, but in California, you can track your ballot from the time it is sent by The Registrar of Voters until it is received back by that office.
If there really were a significant difference between the two parties, then this kind if system wouldnât exist. The primaries would be by party only and only those registered in each would be allowed to vote in that partyâs primary. But since the Dems and Repubs are the twin parties of U.S. capitalism, separation is not seen as necessary. The result, of course, is to push the Dems toward the center, since center-right politics is the core position of American capitalist politics historically - and the Republicans the core party.
Now⌠this in an ideaâŚ
Yup⌠and weâll do just fine while
relaxing out here on the Golden Shores
of the left coast in sunny California.
.
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~OGD~
I do think Dems are cleaning up their act in CA. The bigger risk is that we donât get the most optimal GE candidate, not that we get shut out. Iâd rate the chance of shutting the GOP out in one of these races a little higher than the GOP shutting out the Dems.
In CA-25 (North LA County, Valencia, Santa Clarita, Antelope Valley), the good news is that the best GE candidate, Katie Hill (whom I support) has put on a media blitz with a rock climbing ad, a featured segment on VICE, and debate performances. She has raised the most money and is gaining momentum (I feel so anyway). But I like her chances of getting the top Dem spot to face Steve Knight, who is a slippery pol.
In CA 49 (Issaâs seat in the coastal So Cal region between South Orange County, Camp Pendleton and North San Diego County) the Dems are overwhelming the primary with money and campaign activity. The best candidate (and whom I support) is Mike Levin. The challenge for Levin is the candidacy of Sara Jacobs because of her family connections to Q-Com, and Paul Kerr, another independently wealthy person who is spending a bunch of dough. Applegate has a hold on a loyal base following, but I think Levin would be able to take him out 1 on 1. In fact, I kinda see Applegate + one of the other Dems (Levin, Jacobs, Kerr) making it. Levin has raised a lot of money and is/will be spending it, so I do think he might get a late surge to get the #1 or #2. However, Jacobs presents a contrast because she is young, female, and people respect the success of Q-Com as a major player in that region. An alternative scenario may be that Jacobs and Levin make it out. On the GOP side, even though they have legacy voters, they are split between 2 candidates who have no money. I just see way more voters voting Dem than GOP in this particular race because of the level of money and campaign activity among the 4 Dem candidates. That should be enough to get one over the line (if not 2).
In CA-39 (Royceâs District (Yorba Linda/Brea/Fullerton/Diamond Bar)), Cisneros will get into the top 2 and I think will be the best fit in the GE because of his military background and working class latino roots.
CA-48 is probably where Iâd say a risk remains, but a lot of the party has coalesced around Harley Rouda. Itâs a question of making sure the #2 GOPer doesnât get in and that Keirstead doesnât sap votes. In that race, I see Keirstead and Rouda as having two distinct constituencies/voter bases, so itâs really about going after the undecided Dem leaning vote + making sure that Scott Baugh or some other GOPer doesnât sap too much from Rohrabacher to get into the #2 spot. Thatâs a scenario where I think Rouda will benefit because of the money and focused support from the party to draw voters out.
Iâd also add that the Governorâs race will impact these races as well. In the LA area districts, Villaraigosa is going to get strong support from latino voters and that will boost the overall Dem turnout level.
Well youâre wrong, they are âwildly popularâ. Itâs just that our Democratic âleadershipâ canât stand them and wonât let them play in the same sandbox. Letâs face it, they couldnât do worse.