California GOP's Election "Reform" Measure Reeks of Rove

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By Mark Leno
Member, California State Assembly

This is one straight out of Karl Rove's political playbook. A group of Republican political operatives and their powerful special interests have hatched a desperate scheme to rig California's electoral process to their advantage. They're proposing a statewide ballot initiative to change how California casts its electoral votes for President. They've cleverly labeled it the "Presidential Election Reform Act," which would sound credible if it weren't so cynical.

But make no mistake, this wolf-in-sheep's-clothing has nothing to do with reform or protecting voters' interests or preserving the integrity of our Constitution. It's an audacious power grab by the GOP as it spirals into irrelevance leading up to the 2008 Presidential race.

The Republican Party is in complete disarray. Wracked by scandal and corruption, the GOP has apparently concluded that it has little chance of appealing to voters on the merits. President Bush's poll numbers are melting faster than an Alaskan glacier and a recent nationwide poll showed that two-thirds of young voters surveyed believe that Democrats do a better job than Republicans of representing their interests.

Add to that reports of the state Republican Party's serious financial woes and the resignation in June of its embattled chief operating officer and it's easy to see why state GOP leaders figured it was time for a little election reform.

It shouldn't come as any surprise that some of the same Republican forces behind this bogus reform effort were responsible for the despicable Swift Boat ads attacking Presidential candidate John Kerry in 2004. Bob Perry, who contributed $4.5 million for the Swift Boat ads, is so far bankrolling the GOP electoral reform initiative to the tune of $50,000.

There's no question that our nation deserves a meaningful discussion about improving the way in which we elect our chief executive officer. The 2000 Presidential election showed us that our current system is far from perfect. But that's not what this is about and it's not what the GOP has in mind.

No, this Karl Rovian scheme is a slick GOP effort to steal as many as 24 of California's 55 electoral votes and deliver them to their party's 2008 Presidential nominee. Under our current system, whatever candidate wins the majority vote in California gets all of the state's electoral votes. Republicans, out-of-step with California's progressive values and unwilling to change their message, haven't had much success.