The Average Man

Sunday, October 07, 2007

WHY SO BLUE?

California is a great place to live. We have nice weather, nice beaches, Hollywood, theater, Disneyland; you name it. I moved here from Las Vegas in 1987 to attend UC Santa Barbara and never looked back. In those days, politics was the last thing on my mind, but I've since matured (well, I still enjoy Star Trek and comic books, so I suppose I haven't grown all that much). In the last decade or so, I've come to realize that another thing I like about calling California my home is that fact that we are a Blue State. Would I live here if we weren't? Sure. But the fact that the majority of Californians share my world view is admittedly comforting.

Conservatives living in California are quite aware of its Blue State status, and they're not happy about it. To hear some of them talk, you'd think they are preparing to be hauled off to secret prison camps in the Eastern Bloc or something. If you don't believe me, just check out our local "woe is me" Conservative Turtle or Minority Report. Jeez, relax guys: liberals make love, not war. Personally, I don't get the fear and paranoia. I mean, you can't honestly feel underrepresented in the US of A, can you?

Now, I'm not naive enough to think that California will always be Blue -- Reagan wasn't that long ago -- but if some day the political winds do change, I want it to be because the majority of Californians voted for it in a fair and honest election. If you've been paying attention lately, there was a recent attempt by Republicans to instantly turn California Red; it's called the "Presidential Election Reform Act" ... In a nutshell, it was an attempt to change the winner take all process for presidential elections so that California's Electoral College votes would be divided by regions. According to past voting records, the end result of this is that the GOP would get 20 additional electoral votes from California in the next election.

It appears that this initiative has crashed and burned, but I think it's important to discuss its underlying implications. In a rather ironic statement, Gov. Schwarzenegger recently said the following regarding the proposal ...

I feel like if you, all the sudden in the middle of the game, start changing the rules it's kind of odd, it almost feels like a loser's mentality, saying I cannot win with those rules, so let me change the rules… I have not made up my mind yet in one way or the other, because I haven't seen the details on it.

This, of course, is comical considering that he is only governor due to that horrible recall election. If anyone has forgotten, let me remind you ... Republican Darrell Issa spent a million dollars of his own money financing that recall election so that he could be governor. That didn't work out so well for him, but the end result is that Schwarzenegger skated into the position on name recognition alone. Ultimately, I'm actually pretty happy about that fact, because listening to Issa defend Blackwater on CSPAN this weekend made me ill. So, what, now supporting the troops means you have to support corporate sponsored contractors?

The point here is that this establishes a pattern for Republicans: before recall elections and reform acts, there was the Texas gerrymandering fiasco and voter suppression in Florida & Ohio. And it doesn't end there: soon the ever more conservative Supreme Court will be taking on Indiana's voter ID law. Gee, I wonder how that 5-4 decision will go?

What I take away from these events is that the Right knows they are losing the battle of ideas, so they have to cheat the system in order to maintain power. With that in mind, I would have to say that Schwarzenegger is correct: if you can't win on your own merits, then you're a loser.

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25 Comments:

At 8:06 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Actually, the :"residential Election Reform Act" has a lot to recommend it - IF it were to take effect on or after January 1, 2009, and IF it were coupled with meaningful changes in anti-gerrymandering reform. Think abouot it.

 
At 9:10 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

and the biggest IF of them all:

and IF all the other States followed the same rules where the electoral vote were winner-take-all based on Congressional district rather than the entire state.

Did these proponents really think that "reform" only should apply to California and not to other states?

 
At 11:13 AM, Blogger Trekking Left said...

I would agree that the basic idea behind the reform act has merit if there is a national discussion and all the things you two mentioned are on the table.

But the way it was introduced in this case was just a power grab.

 
At 12:20 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

GO BLUE!

 
At 1:22 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I'm not red or blue. I hate everyone. Both parties should be rendered down into bio-fuel and soap.

 
At 3:46 PM, Blogger George said...

Here's a novel idea--why don't we just let the popular vote decide who wins?

And then let's make it retroactive to 2000, while we're at it.

 
At 5:52 PM, Blogger Trekking Left said...

Edgar - You are indeed an equal opportunity hater :)

 
At 8:16 AM, Blogger jqb said...

"Think abouot it."

Smart people have thought about it and concluded that apportioning electoral votes by district in just one large state has nothing to recommend it. National elections are, well, national, and the same rules should apply everywhere. We should get rid of the electoral college. One way to do that is to do what Maryland has done, which is to apply their electoral college votes to whichever candidate wins the national popular vote (but this only goes into effect once enough states have committed to the same plan to contribute 270 EC votes). Every state that joins Maryland gets us one step closer to eliminating the EC.

 
At 9:17 AM, Blogger M.C. Confrontation said...

wah wah wah 2000 elections wah retroactive wah wah wah!!!!

what year will it be when george et al. will stop whining about 2000 already?

muhahahaha!

 
At 10:23 AM, Blogger Trekking Left said...

George - That's the best suggestion yet.

 
At 11:03 AM, Blogger TheAverageMan said...

JQB -- if we could accomplish that, and have instant runoff voting, we might actually have a truly representative democracy, at long last! Though the PTB will fight it to the bitter end...

 
At 1:48 PM, Blogger TheAverageMan said...

Oh, MAN! McC has nailed each one of Us and our tree-hugging, latte-sipping, volvo-driving wimpy liberal butts to the wall once again with his astute observational skills and razor-sharp wit! It's just not fair...

 
At 4:16 PM, Blogger M.C. Confrontation said...

Just playing to the level of the opposition, TAM. One word: scoreboard.

But I do pose the question, as yet unanswered: will you folks EVER get over the 2000 election "theft"?

p.s. I would never excoriate you for sipping lattes. I love a good cafe latte. i dont drive a volvo though...

 
At 1:06 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I can deal with the "theft." Politics is an ugly business.

It's what happened after the theft that galls me.

"Mission accomplished," indeed.

 
At 9:12 AM, Blogger TheAverageMan said...

Yeah, the score was
Bullies: 1
Voters: 0

However, it is nice to know that when a woman, or a black guy, or even a really short guy is sworn in two Januaries from now, you'll accept it graciously and without complaint.

 
At 9:21 AM, Blogger M.C. Confrontation said...

Hey TAM, you're right. If the Dems do lock up the presidency I WILL accept it graciously. You know why? Because I support my President and the troops during wartime. I won't be out there demoralizing our military by bashing the President, whoever he/she/it may be. You can call me myopic or even blindly patriotic if you like, but I do believe that in a time such as this with the enemy we currently face, there's no room for decrying our leadership for political gain.

Obviously, just my opinion, but I don't think you'll see conservatives behaving like liberals have for the past seven years.

 
At 11:34 AM, Blogger Trekking Left said...

"...but I don't think you'll see conservatives behaving like liberals have for the past seven years."

You mean like the way conservatives were so supportive of Bill Clinton?

"...but I do believe that in a time such as this with the enemy we currently face, there's no room for decrying our leadership for political gain."

Firstly, Bush and the Republicans used 9/11 for their political gain. And secondly, it's convenient that the Bush administration has a never ending "war on terror" they can hold up to prevent anyone from "decrying their leadership" ... If it's unpatriotic to call Bush a bad president during a time of war, then I guess it's nice for him that the war never ends.

If Hillary is elected, then you realize the war on terror will continue during her entire presidency, right? Does that mean your site will go down due to the fact that you will have nothing negative to say about her?

 
At 2:14 PM, Blogger M.C. Confrontation said...

You think George Bush does things for political gain? Why? He's on the top of the mountain. What does he stand to gain exactly, or rather what does anyone who is at the pinnacle of their career, with no higher an office to hold, stand to gain? Legacy? The winners do write the history books.

Bill Clinton said "I did not have sex with that woman" directly into the camera, basically looking right into the eyes of every American, and told a lie. That's why he got hammered. PLUS don't forget, no wars during Clinton's terms, bashing allowed when bashing's deserved if you ask me.

Why would I have to take down the Minority Report if the pantsuit is elected? Not everything on my site is negative. Didn't you read the piece on my gay temp? That was positive.

 
At 3:20 PM, Blogger Trekking Left said...

"You think George Bush does things for political gain? Why?"

I wish I knew. But the fact remains that Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, and their ilk hijacked 9/11 to promote their neocon objectives in the Middle East. I think it's pretty naive to think that they don't have selfish agendas just because they've reached high office. Money, power, oil? ... who knows what motivites these people.

"Bill Clinton ...looking right into the eyes of every American, and told a lie."

And W. looked every American in the eye and implied that Iraq was responsible for 9/11. Which is worse?

"PLUS don't forget, no wars during Clinton's terms..."

Um, Kosovo?

"Not everything on my site is negative. Didn't you read the piece on my gay temp?"

Is that where you stated that gay people use mayonnaise jars as sex toys? I forget.

 
At 8:54 AM, Blogger M.C. Confrontation said...

I can see my Greenwich Village mayonnaise story really touched you in a... uuhhhhh... deeply affecting way. I felt the same way after I heard that story.

There's a "lying" in "implying," I understand... but I can't really speak for all of the people who bought that package deal. I don't feel fooled, and despite the fact that no WMD's have been found I still believe we're doing the right thing.

Did Bill Clinton declare war on Kosovo? I thought that was a UN campaign, but maybe I missed something there. I WAS in college and can't necessarily account for all of the time I spent there. I spent alot of time occupying various administration buildings, smoking thai stick, and bowling.

 
At 11:52 AM, Blogger Trekking Left said...

Well, it was sort of a UN campaign, but like Iraq, the US was the driver for it. This brings up a good point, though. Neither Clinton nor Bush should be able to declare war on anyone. The Congress needs to reassert their authority here instead of leaving it up to the president.

 
At 8:22 AM, Blogger TheAverageMan said...

" I don't feel fooled, and despite the fact that no WMD's have been found I still believe we're doing the right thing. "

I'll ask again, in all seriousness: if you believe this war is important and necessary, why are you not over there, wearing a uniform and carrying a gun right now?

 
At 11:54 AM, Blogger M.C. Confrontation said...

Uhhhh, because I'm not a soldier?

Look, I love the New York Yankees, but I can't play for them. I love the writings of Cormac McCarthy, but I can't write like him. I love steak, but I can't eat it every day.

What exactly is your point? You've asked me this before. It's like me saying to you, if you don't like President Bush so much, why don't you do something about it Mr. Booth? Ridiculous. I'm 35 years old today, and while I'm sure the Guard would take me, my wife wouldn't ever let me do it. I've got a six month old daughter. We've got 150000 troops in theater that I support, and because I support them you insinuate that I have no legs to stand on because I'm not one of them? I think I'm just fine right here, fighting the fight against people like you who work to demoralize the troops with your brand of defeatism.

 
At 10:09 PM, Blogger TheAverageMan said...

You believe that the very fate of Western Civilization is at stake in this war, but all you are willing to do is pay your taxes and hurl verbal abuse at a couple of bloggers?

You say "we" are doing the right thing. Well, "we" are not doing anything. We are sitting here in our homes, working behind our desks, and living our lives for all practical purposes unaffected by what's happening on those battlefields. You talk all tough, as if you're somehow kicking ass vicariously, but you'll leave it to other guys to actually get shot at and killed.

Dissent, questioning, and criticism is my job as a citizen of a democracy. Supporting the troops does not mean blind obedience to our leaders, it means honoring our soldiers' commitment and their efforts by making absolutely sure they're out there for a good reason, admitting mistakes when they happen, and doing our best to correct them. It also means giving soldiers the equipment, the rest time, the pay and the medical coverage they deserve. None of which Bush and his people have done or seem willing to do, and we have every right, and every obligation, to take them to task for it.

And if you change your mind, the military would be glad to have you. Heck, they're even taking convicted felons and drug users these days.

 
At 1:10 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Wow McC.
Way to dodge your responsibility and keep your money FAR from where your mouth is!
You're not a soldier? How many people who join the Army are soldiers? Very few..They MAKE you a soldier!
Your wife wont let you??.... waaaah waaaah waaaah! Who wears the pantsuit in your family?
You have a kid? WAAAAH! Plenty of the good people in the military who ARE fighting righ now have kids. You better hurry up and join, the Army will only take new recruits until age 36.
Insulting the president and the way he does things isn't going to demoralize our troops. They have better things to be demoralized about. They're in the middle of a civil war.
I hope the rest of you excuse me for lowering my bar to his standards.

 

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