Thanks to the CFRW Newsletter Issue 2 - 2nd Quarter 2010, www.cfrw.org, for providing the link to this George Will column in the Orange County Register, 6/10/10.
...Prop. 14 is an attempt to change government policies by changing the political process. Henceforth, in primary elections that select candidates for most state and federal offices – including almost one-eighth of the U.S. House of Representatives – all voters, regardless of party registration, or those who have "decline to state" status (no party identification – 20.2 percent of Californians), will receive the same ballot. All candidates for a particular office will be listed, regardless of party affiliation, if any, which they may choose to state, or not. The two receiving the most votes will be on November ballots, regardless of the desires of the political parties the nominees may claim to represent.
Prop. 14's purpose is to weaken and marginalize parties, traditionally the principal vehicles for voter education and mobilization. It would strip them of their core function of selecting candidates who represent their members' preferences. It infringes the First Amendment protection of freedom of association, which includes the right of parties not to associate with candidates they do not select...
...But, then, blandness is the point of this reform. It seeks to generate a homogenized political class, one not lumpy with liberals and conservatives who, being conviction politicians, do not always play well with others...
