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Graphic Courtesy of California Majority Report

Another California initiative – “The Presidential Electors Initiative” changing the distribution of Presidential electoral College votes (winner take all to by Congressional district) was approved for circulation yesterday. Previously the Electoral Reform California Initiative qualified and is currently circulating for signatures.

The initiative is here and the complete text is here.

Now the opposition strikes back……

Attorney seeks probe of electoral vote plan

The Democrats and Hillary Clinton MUST really be worried about the California Presidential Electors Initiative. Or is this typical LEFTY NUTROOTS paranoia?

Rove and Bush have done everything to defeat the Democrats?

Hardly

Chris Lehane and Democrat cronies in the political consulting business have been hired to “sew the seeds of doubt” about this initiative and no matter how NUTTY they seem, at the end of the day they receive their checks from the Unions, the DNC and the Clintons.

Will the RIGHT be able to qualify either of the initiatives?

Yes, even if the GOP “WALKS AWAY” in Spring 2008.

Previous:

Presidential Electors Initiative Watch: Initiative in Circulation for June 2008

Electoral Reform California Initiative Watch: Schwarzenegger Cool To Initiative

Electoral Reform California Initiative Watch: Field Poll – 47% Favor vs. 35% Oppose

Electoral Reform California Initiative Could Split California Presidential Votes Part III – Opposition Forms

Electoral Reform California Initiative Could Split California Presidential Votes Part II

Electoral Reform California Initiative Could Split California Presidential Votes

North Carolina Ready to Change Electoral College Presidential Selection Rules for 2008

Graphic Courtesy of California Majority Report

Another California initiative – “The Presidential Electors Initiative” changing the distribution of Presidential electoral College votes (winner take all to by Congressional district) was approved for circulation yesterday. Previously the Electoral Reform California Initiative qualified and is currently circulating for signatures.

The initiative is here and the complete text is here.

Two competing GOP sponsored initiatives with California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger apparently opposed with lukewarm initial poll support and massive Democrat Party opposition yields this scenario:

1. Funds are raised from Presidential candidates and GOP donors to qualify the initiative(s) for the June 2008 California ballot.

2. Since support is so-so from the California GOP and voters, supporters will FEIGN a campaign forcing Democrats to spend campaign resources to “MAKE SURE” the initiative(s) do not pass.

Flap thinks both initiatives have merit and with a low turn-out election in June you never know.

But, Flap DOES know that the Democrats will spend mega-dollars on their media campaign and cause them grief and election angst.

Democratic National Committee chairman Howard Dean accused Republicans of trying to “rig” the 2008 presidential contest and vowed Wednesday to do “whatever it takes within legal boundaries” to stop a California ballot measure that would change how the state casts its 55 Electoral College votes.

Dean, who called the initiative a “Tom Delay/Karl Rove-type maneuver…”

Stay tuned…….

Previous:

Electoral Reform California Initiative Watch: Schwarzenegger Cool To Initiative

Electoral Reform California Initiative Watch: Field Poll – 47% Favor vs. 35% Oppose

Electoral Reform California Initiative Could Split California Presidential Votes Part III – Opposition Forms

Electoral Reform California Initiative Could Split California Presidential Votes Part II

Electoral Reform California Initiative Could Split California Presidential Votes

North Carolina Ready to Change Electoral College Presidential Selection Rules for 2008

Graphic Courtesy of California Majority Report

Although he added he wasn’t versed in details of the ballot proposal and stressed he wasn’t taking a definitive position his lack of enthusiasm may damper fundraising efforts.

Also, there is another electoral college reform initiative pending in the Attorney General’s office. And this initiative is created by governor’s former attorney Thomas Hiltachk and ex-advisor Marty Wilson.

The “Presidential Election Reform Act” is here.

Is the Governor remaining non-committal because he favors the “OTHER” initiative or using both as bargaining chips over the Democrat controlled Legislature for redistricting reform?

In any case, the Democrats are not sitting still and have submitted a counter-initiative, “National Popular Vote” counter-initiative, which would have the state’s electoral votes go to whoever wins the national popular vote.

If you are afraid you cannot defeat a measure directly at the polls, why not create confusion where both measures go down to defeat – a long-time used tactic in California Initiative politics. This is the apparent strategy here.

The Presidential Election Reform Act is due to be reported out of the Attorney General’s office on September 5th and begin circulation for signatures.

Stay tuned…….

Previous:

Electoral Reform California Initiative Watch: Field Poll – 47% Favor vs. 35% Oppose

Electoral Reform California Initiative Could Split California Presidential Votes Part III – Opposition Forms

Electoral Reform California Initiative Could Split California Presidential Votes Part II

Electoral Reform California Initiative Could Split California Presidential Votes

North Carolina Ready to Change Electoral College Presidential Selection Rules for 2008

Graphic Courtesy of California Majority Report

Flap has reported about the Electoral Reform California Initiative previously here, here and here.

The new Field Poll found a plurality of support for electoral vote change, including a virtual tie among Democratic voters, when poll respondents were given a bare bones description and asked, “Generally speaking, which method of allocating California’s electoral votes do you prefer — the current winner-take-all method or the proposed district-by-district method?”

Overall, a shift to district allocation was favored by 47 percent of voters and opposed by 35 percent, with a 57-28 split in favor among Republicans, a 41-42 virtual tie among Democrats and a 43-34 edge among independents.

However, when a different question is asked and it is explained that Democrats would potentially lose electoral college votes, Democrats and Independents flip against the initiative.

A composite question results in a 49% in FAVOR.

The California Field Poll is here.

Flap thinks this initiative WILL be pivotal in electing the next President. Look for intense fundraising and both parties lending media consultants to run a surrogate Presidential campaign in June 2008 in California.

Hillary needs all of California electoral votes to win the Presidency. Without them her chances and the Democrat’s ability to regain the White House is considerably diminished.

The Electoral Reform California Website is here.

The Democrats will ratchet up the “UNFAIR POWER GRAB” Meme. But, what about North Carolina where the Democrats are arguing the other side?

Stay tuned…..

Previous:

Electoral Reform California Initiative Could Split California Presidential Votes Part III – Opposition Forms

Electoral Reform California Initiative Could Split California Presidential Votes Part II

Electoral Reform California Initiative Could Split California Presidential Votes

North Carolina Ready to Change Electoral College Presidential Selection Rules for 2008

The Electoral Reform California Website is here.

Flap receives this e-mail today:

Hi all—

FYI, we’re working on the campaign to oppose the likely Republican-funded initiative scheme that would radically change the way California awards electoral votes, moving away from the “winner-take-all” approach (that currently means 55 electoral votes for the Democratic nominee) and towards an allocation based on Congressional district (which could throw as many as 20 electoral votes to the Republican nominee) — potentially throwing the entire presidential election to the Republicans.

Our placeholder site just launched today. Any support you can provide for this effort would really be appreciated:

http://www.FairElectionReform.com

The Republicans are beginning to raise money to try to qualify the initiative for the June ballot. If it passes, it would go into effect for 2008. We’ve got quite a bit of work to do to fight back against what many voters, at first blush, may think is a “fair” solution — because this concept taps into a lot of disenchantment that people feel about the electoral college as a whole.

We can’t let the Republicans get away with this pure, partisan power grab – and instead, we need to be reforming the system nationwide in a fair, comprehensive way (like moving to a national popular vote), rather than this kind of piecemeal approach that disproportionately swings electoral votes to one party or another.

Senator Boxer blogged about this at Huffington Post today:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sen-barbara-boxer/stop-the-gop-electoral-co_b_60728.html

Rick Jacobs, Todd Beeton, and the folks at the Courage Campaign are going to be doing a ton of online advocacy around this, so be sure to check them out too:

http://www.couragecampaign.org

Thanks for your help on this.

Flap wonders how much each party will contribute to this initiative? Or their surrogates?

Flap receives this e-mail about the California lefty blogosphere actively opposing the initiative:

Many folks have already been writing and blogging about this, including Steven Maviglio over at the California Majority Report, Dave Dayen at Calitics, Bill Cavala at California Progress Report, and plenty of others. Links to their great pieces here:

http://camajorityreport.com/index.php?module=articles&func=display&aid=2179&ptid=9

http://camajorityreport.com/index.php?module=articles&func=display&aid=2128&ptid=9

http://www.calitics.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=3482

http://www.californiaprogressreport.com/2007/07/changing_the_ru.html

I’m sure I’ve missed others, and apologies in advance for that. Thanks all!

The fight for California’s Electoral College votes in Presidential Race 2008 has just begun.

The initiative is here.

Stay tuned……….

Graphic Courtesy of California Majority Report

Previous:

Electoral Reform California Initiative Could Split California Presidential Votes Part II

Electoral Reform California Initiative Could Split California Presidential Votes

North Carolina Ready to Change Electoral College Presidential Selection Rules for 2008

Little noticed except among election 2008 compulsives, the California Electoral Reform Initiative is making a big splash in the Christian Science Monitor today.

Soren has more on the North Carolina change in delegate selection process that Flap mentioned here.

Should this initiative qualify, it may well determine whether Hillary or Rudy is the next President.

Anyone want to bet the Democrats drop the effort in North Carolina?

Well, NO, they won’t.

The California Initiative will pass.

In California, the measure’s passage would probably be determined by voter turnout, and that could favor Republicans, experts say.

“The state will have just voted in February, and there is no US Senate race so June turnout will likely be low, which works against the Democrats,” says Quinn. Democrats, who usually argue for more fairness in elections and the end of the electoral college system, are in a quandary over how to fight this, he says.

“The Democrats are being hoisted on their own petards,” says Quinn. “They say, ‘Let’s make elections fairer,’ and Republicans are saying, ‘Okay, let’s do it this way,’ and Democrats are beside themselves because they know what it will likely do.”

But, watch California Attorney General, Jerry Brown and other California pols use the courts to derail the initiative and try to keep it off the June 2008 ballot.

The initiative is here.

Previous:

Electoral Reform California Initiative Could Split California Presidential Votes

North Carolina Ready to Change Electoral College Presidential Selection Rules for 2008