The Latest in a Tradition of Republican Obstruction in California and the Nation

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By Joseph A. Palermo

Wealthy right-wingers from out of state are flooding California with cash to try to change the way the state's electoral votes are allocated. In time for the 2008 election (and thereafter) the Republicans want to snatch up at least 20 of California's 55 electoral votes in a new system that would replace the traditional winner-take-all method. As with past Republican shenanigans they intend to accomplish this feat by tricking the voters with a well financed, deceptively-worded ballot initiative.

"Take Initiative America -- California" is a corporation set up in Missouri that is charged with funneling hefty amounts of cash into the coffers of a group calling itself "Californians for Equal Representation." We'll be hearing a lot from "Californians for Equal Representation" on our radios and TVs as the group uses the latest techniques in post-Swift Boat propaganda to convince enough Californians that they should vote in favor of diminishing their state's relevance in national elections.

If successful, the Republican initiative will have the effect of diluting the impact of the state of California on the Electoral College.

This effort flies in the face of the recent "bi-partisan" decision to change the date of the California primary to increase the state's influence in national politics. California Republicans, including the governor, who voted to change the primary schedule should answer the simple question: Why vote to move the primary election up to February 5th in an effort to give the state greater influence in choosing a president while plotting to strip away electoral votes that will weaken the state's influence in presidential elections?

So Republicans can win! That's why!

Making matters worse is the fact that the billionaire vulture capitalist Paul E. Singer, who makes a living extorting money from hard-pressed peasants and workers in Latin America through buying out debt, and who finances every right-wing entity from Commentary magazine to "Swift Boat Veterans for Truth," has dumped at least $175,000 into the effort to strip California of 40 percent of its electoral votes. Singer aims to fork over these California electoral votes to his good friend Rudolph Giuliani.

Getting this initiative on the ballot in California is the Republicans' latest trick designed to change the rules of the game in their favor because they can't win otherwise. This "reform" would give Rudy Giuliani or any other person the Republicans nominate a lock on 20 electoral votes from California, which is roughly equal to the total number of electoral votes from Ohio.