At the same time that Democratic National Committee is stripping
Florida of delegates to the party's national convention for the
GOP-controlled legislature's vote to move up the Sunshine State's presidential
primaries to January 29, 2008, Republicans are maneuvering to rewrite long-held
electoral rules in California, tossing out the �winner take all� system of
assigning electoral votes.
The fully story is here: Winner
Take All? Not Necessarily, San Francisco Chronicle, September 6.
Under the new GOP-backed initiative (approved on September 5
for signature gathering to qualify for the June 2008 ballot),
California�s electoral votes would be split. The statewide winner would receive
two electoral votes, with the rest given to the winner in each congressional
district.
This has the potential of virtually handing the Republicans
the 2008 election, and the Republican presidential candidate the White House.
California would no longer be a Democratic stronghold. In fact, it would become
a very �red� state.
It is no surprise that the initiative is the work of
Republican operative Tom Hiltachk, whose sleazy 2003 recall campaign
successfully removed Governor Gray Davis and installed Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean correctly
charged that the new move in California is �another Republican attempt to rig
an election� and vowed to �do whatever�s necessary� to beat it. But will the
spineless and neutered Dems really do anything about it?
If
GOP manipulations in both California and Florida succeed, two of the nation�s
biggest Democratic Party strongholds would be essentially removed even before
the election itself, and even before the (virtually certain) electronic vote
theft ensues, giving Republicans the presidency, possibly Congress, too, and
control of the country.
