Republicans form a new plot to rig the 2008 election!

[RiverStone]

California DUers, this seems like a HUGE thing to have on the radar. What's the latest spin on this? :shrug:

Seattle PI
By JOHANN HARI
GUEST COLUMNIST

In the long, hot autumn of 2000, the world was shocked by the contempt for democracy shown by the Republican Party. They knew their man had lost the popular vote to Al Gore by half a million votes. They knew the majority of voters in Florida itself had pulled a lever for Gore. But they fought -- amid the confetti of hanging chads -- to stop the state's votes being counted, and to ensure that the Supreme Court imposed George W. Bush on the nation.

Today, that contempt for democracy is on display again. In California right now, there is a naked, out-in-the-open ploy to rig the 2008 presidential election -- and it may succeed.

<snip>

Today, the Republicans are trying to exploit the discontent with the Electoral College among Americans in a way that would rig the system in their favor. At the moment, every state apart from Maine and Nebraska hands out its Electoral College votes according to a winner-takes-all system. This means that if 51 percent of people in California vote Democrat, the Democrats get 100 percent of California's electoral votes; if 51 percent of people in Texas vote Republican, the Republicanget 100 percent of Texas' electoral votes.

The Republicans want to change this -- but in only one Democrat-leaning state. California has gone Democratic in presidential elections since 1988, and winning the sunny state is essential if the Democrats are going to retake the White House. So the Republicans have now begun a plan to break up California's Electoral College votes and award a huge chunk of them to their side.

They have launched a campaign called California Counts, and they are trying to secure a statewide referendum in June to implement their plan. They want California's electoral votes to be divvied up not on a big statewide basis, but according to the much smaller congressional districts. The practical result? Instead of all the state's 54 Electoral College votes going to the Democratic candidate, around 20 would go to the Republicans.

more:

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/341868_rigged02.html?source=mypi

[tandot]

1. K & R

[mitchleary]

2. The if they want that

Let's just go to a nationwide popular election cuz Texas, Arizona, etc matter also.

[driver8]

3. Someone on DU the other day said that this was "reform, not rigging."

It is reform if it happens in all states.

It is rigging the vote if it happens only in California.

This pisses me right off.

[Elspeth]

4. These people have to be stopped.

...

[Ravy]

6. It already happens in some states.

Maine and Nebraska, I believe.

It is a state issue. Democrats would do well to start efforts to change a) to another system, or b) their red state's apportionment of votes.

[kysrsoze]

5. This is all but dead already. Support for the measure is tiny. No worries.

[SalviaBlue]

7. I'm not so sure that's true

I was listening to Thom Hartmann this morning and he said that there is an effort to downplay this so it will pass kind of under the radar. He said the suppporters of this were working feverishly over this last weekend to get enough sigs to get it on the ballot.

Hartmann said he thinks it WILL be on the ballot and it WILL pass and it will probably effect the POTUS election and then the Supreme Court will have to step in and rule whether it is constitutional to just do this in one state.

[RiverStone]

8. It still looks pretty active to me

I goggled the initiative and found this:

http://www.calcounts.com/

I think Thom's words of warning are well worth paying attention to - hopefully, folks will keep this in plain site (particularly down in CA.)

[kysrsoze]

10. OMG . That's terrible. Last I heard, it wasn't going anywhere.

I like to think of Californians (at least the majority of them) as smarter than this sh*t.

[RiverStone]

11. its moving alright

Lets just hope we don't have regrets in hindsight, that we did not do enough. And until I stumbled upon the OP in the Seattle PI -I did not know about it either.

I wonder if somehow this is slipping past the awareness of many Californians?

[caligirl]

9. CBS news coverage of this from Saturday via Youtube and Courage Campaign email

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=exdQ5mWaOLY&eurl=http://www.couragecampaign.org/page/content/55/



Dear xxxxx,

In just a matter of days, the 2008 presidential election may actually be decided. In California. By progressives like you.

Because of your grassroots and netroots activism, the GOP's California ballot initiative campaign to steal the White House -- what the New York Times called an "elaborate dirty trick" designed by a "shadowy group" to "do serious damage to our democracy" -- is under significant pressure.

Time is running out on these dirty tricksters and we need your help to finish them off. With signature-gathering deadlines looming to place the so-called "Electoral College Reform Initiative" (ECRI) on the June ballot, we've caught Republican dirty tricksters red-handed on video.

Right before Thanksgiving -- in an action inspired by a Daily Kos blogger's diary -- we emailed Courage Campaign supporters a YouTube video exposing a potentially illegal "children with cancer" bait-and-switch tactic used by signature gatherers to get Californians to sign and support ECRI. After we provided documentation a few days later, Secretary of State Debra Bowen's office told us they were considering an investigation.

Now, the CBS Evening News is on the case. On Saturday night, CBS used portions of that Courage Campaign video to expose millions to the right-wing cabal behind "California Counts," the gang of Republican dirty tricksters -- linked to Rudy Giuliani -- who are trying to steal the White House in 2008.

Please watch the CBS Evening News report on YouTube by clicking here and then consider making a $55 contribution to support our work to kill this dirty trick. Without your financial support, we could not have produced the video exposing these sneaky signature-gatherers, Secretary Bowen would not be considering an investigation, and CBS would not be reporting this news to millions:

http://www.couragecampaign.org/55

If this Rovian dirty trick is successful, at least 20 of California's Electoral College votes -- the equivalent of Ohio -- will be allocated to the Republican presidential nominee.

The consequences could be catastrophic for our country and the world. Four more years of Iraq, Iran, torture, and warrantless wiretapping. Four more years of crisis, from the climate to health care and the economy. And, four more years to give right-wing extremists the opportunity to turn a conservative Supreme Court majority into concrete.

That's why these desperate right-wingers are hell-bent on using apparently illegal signature-gathering tactics to get this initiative on the ballot so they can lock down the White House for decades.

We need your financial support now to kill this dirty trick dead. How much would you donate to protect California's 55 Electoral College votes from the Republicans? Just $5.50? How about $55? Or even $550? To help us save California from becoming another Florida or Ohio, can you contribute $5.50, $55, or $550 on ActBlue today?

http://www.couragecampaign.org/55

At the heart of the Courage Campaign is a mission to leverage online organizing to empower bloggers and grassroots activists in California. We are a new kind of organization, waging a new kind of campaign, practicing a new kind of politics.

From a blogger writing a diary on Daily Kos to a national broadcast on the CBS Evening News, this is what people-powered progressive politics looks like:

First, Steven Attewell, an eagle-eyed blogger on Daily Kos, posted a community diary about the "children with cancer" bait-and-switch by California Counts signature gatherers at UC Santa Barbara. Courage Campaign staffer Erik Love immediately talked with Attewell and worked with me and Online Political Director Julia Rosen to deploy a grassroots film crew to capture the dirty tricksters in the act. Calitics blogger Dave Dayen quickly edited the raw video. Finally, the day before Thanksgiving, we emailed the video to Courage Campaign supporters asking for reports of any similar sneaky signature-gathering tactics witnessed over the holiday weekend.

Dozens of first-hand reports from the grassroots came pouring in to the Courage Campaign. Erik then contacted the chief of the Secretary of State's Fraud Investigations Unit, who indicated the tactics used were likely illegal. Finally, I sent an official request to Secretary Bowen asking her to open up a formal investigation.

With signature submission deadlines looming, time is running out on these right-wing dirty tricksters. To continue our campaign to expose these signature schemes, please watch the CBS report and then make a timely donation to Courage of $5.50, $55, or $550 on ActBlue so we can kill this dirty trick and protect California's 55 electoral votes:

http://www.couragecampaign.org/55

Whether or not an investigation is launched, Secretary Bowen and County Registrars will be examining hundreds of thousands of petitions submitted by California Counts in the coming weeks to determine if enough legal signatures have been collected. The more sunlight we all can continue to shine on these sneaky signature gatherers in the next few days, the less of a chance this shady scheme will qualify for the June ballot.

You are on the ground floor of a new movement led by the Courage Campaign to synergize the netroots with the grassroots to achieve a progressive vision for California. Now, as we battle these devious dirty tricksters from deadline to deadline, we need your support to make that vision a reality.

Thank you for everything you are doing to create progressive change in California and the country.

Rick Jacobs
Chair

P.S. As Bradley Whitford ("Josh Lyman" on The West Wing) said in a Courage Campaign YouTube video last month, if the dirty trick succeeds...

"That, my friends, would be the ballgame."

To help us fight these right-wing extremists down to the wire, please make a critical contribution of $5.50, $55, or $550 right now to protect California's 55 electoral votes via ActBlue, the online community tool that empowers anyone to fundraise online for progressive candidates and causes:

http://www.couragecampaign.org/55

[robbedvoter]

12. Interesting how only in blue states they want this - non-partisan elections

for mayor - I heard they already have that in LA. DU's new darling Bloomberg tried to do it in NYC (but we beat his referendum)

[slackmaster]

14. California is unusual in that we have a voter initiative process

Most states don't.

The idea is to give the people a way to exercise direct democracy when we feel our legislature isn't doing its job.

Democrats could not attempt a similar movement in Texas, because it has no such initiative process.

[L. Coyote]

13. This enables the Rs to win the Presidency while losing the popular vote by 5% or more!!

They should call it "enshrining 2000" of maybe (like in golf), the "Handicap Law for Lame Politicians." (That really deserves OP treatment.)

[DCKit]

15. Time to ditch the electoral college...

It only made sense when vote-counting was too unwieldy.

Let's rely on the popular vote!

There, that'll scare the pants off 'em.