Your "must read" of the day is over at the Fox and Hounds Daily website.  It is penned by my colleague, California Republican Party Treasurer Keith Carlson…

It begins…

What Really Happens if Prop 14 Passes
By Keith Carlson
Treasurer of the California Republican Party

What they hope will happen versus what we know will happen.  There is a difference between the two when it comes to the results of Prop 14 possibly passing.

Proponents will paint a picture, looking forward, of a reformed and well functioning Sacramento.  "Party bosses" will be no more, and enlightened "moderates" will rule the day.  There is an irony that the Governor and Lieutenant Governor-those in the best ‘insider’ positions to run a party under normal circumstances, i.e., the ultimate party bosses-are the prime pushers of this measure.

Not to mention that the pushers are themselves self-described moderates and are the people who have run the state (or cast critical votes in the very budgets that have nearly destroyed the state) lately.  One must wonder whether the theoretical moderates produced by Prop 14 will rule us any better than the actual moderates who are promoting Prop 14.

These ironies are lost, however, on those who-for looming state-budget reasons-are desperate to maintain governmental favor and are thus leveraged to support the ‘reform’ proposition de jour.  The irony is also ignored by those who naively support any change offered thinking:  "it is so bad in Sacramento, it cannot get any worse."

But, of course, it can get worse.   That is because actions produce reactions.  Lost in this debate over Prop 14 is the fact that it is actually undoing voting reform.  Party nominations were not always the right of the people as they are today.  In the 19th and early 20th Centuries, California had parties, and the parties picked their own nominees for the general ballot.  But the nominee-selection process was not open to all members of the parties.  Then came the direct primaries-designed to get rid of party bosses choosing the nominees.  With direct primaries every party member can pick the nominees.  Because of that reform, tomorrow over 5 Million Republicans are free to choose their nominee for Governor, Senator, Attorney General, etc.

But Prop 14 will undo that reform and thereby reduce our freedom.  Party nominations, via statewide elections, will be no more.  Thus, for parties to impact the process, they will have to develop rules to nominate candidates before the June primary.  Currently, the Republican Party is prohibited, by rule, from weighing in.  Assuming Prop 14 passes, it will need a new way of determining the official nominees.  This matters because only the nominee can receive the party’s money, support, volunteer organization, and so forth.

There is more to this article — click here to read the full version.  Then forward it to every voter you know!

This entry was posted on Monday, June 7th, 2010 at 12:00 am and is filed under Blog Posts.