California GOP Drama Illustrates How Top Two Choke Point Puts MORE Power Into the Hands of Party Insiders
As much this staunch centrist independent finds some sense of amusement from the fact that the California GOP is having internal problems in response to the “top two” choke point part of Proposition 14, this story illustrates one of the major problems of limiting only two people through primaries and into a general election.
The drama stems from the debate as to how they will respond to the top two choke point, that only allows two candidates through a primary election and into the general. The California GOP is debating on how they will decide on what candidate to officially back ahead of the primary.
One of a whole slew of mistakes that supporters of top two choke point primary rules miss is that the core problem with the two major parties is not at all mitigated by only allowing two people through to the general election. The major party candidates are so much better off because of the support of the party, with organization, volunteers, money, campaign advice, etc. Only allowing two people through the primary, and into the general election, actually makes this situation worse, not better.
Since underdog candidates have so many disadvantages built into the system, the only thing they have that is on an even playing field is time. They used to have all the way until the general election to catch up with bigger name candidates, but with the top two choke point, they only have until the primary.
Nothing can stop the major parties from deciding who they are going to throw their weight behind far in advance of the primary. Whereas before people had a problem with candidates only being chosen by the narrow group of partisan primary voters, this shrinks that group down to an even smaller group party insiders. This debunks yet another claim of top two supporters, that it would lead to more moderate candidates.
Most people don’t start really paying attention to elections until just before they vote in the general election. Top two choke point rules give them even less choice than they had before, and puts even more power as to who chooses who those options are in the hands of people who already have too much. The people who supported these rules, who thought it would help independents and moderates, were duped.
Tags: california, election reform, open primaries, prop 14
