It's being called the Voters' Choice Initiative because it would remove ideology from the process. Any voter could choose any candidate in the primary. The two top vote-getters, regardless of party, would square off in the November election.
I think this is a fantastic development, and if written correctly this initiative would get my full support. It's possible that you wouldn't see a major party on certain ballots, or that you wouldn't see a Democrat or a Republican in certain parts of California.
Certain elections wouldn't harp on the same old party-based issues. Normal, independent-minded people could run and stand a chance. It would all be based on how much support you could garner with your message. Politics could become regionalized.
“It's not good for politics,” Schwarzenegger said. “But remember, what is not good for politics is good for the people. That's the bottom line here.”
2 comments:
Open Primaries is particularly critical because 40% of the electorate now consider ourselves independent. If there's to be any serious change in political culture, then independent must be able to participate at every level of the process and lead the fight vs. partisanism. In addition to supporting this local fight by contacting your legislators, sign the letter to President Obama (who knows this issue well since w/o it he would not be president) asking him to actively support open primaries and appoint a politcal reform task force. Sign at http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/independentvoting.html and sign up for regular updates on the independent movement at www.independentvoting.org
Gwen
www.independentvoting.org
I'm all for this, in PA I had to re-register as a republican just to vote for Ron Paul last time around even though I by no means follow what the republican party has become.
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