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.

Even when talking to the most hackish of political freakshows, and even if it is buried inside of a whole pile of talking points and spin, you can usually get their opinion out of them. I get disagreement. I don’t think that just because centrists stand where the majority of the country does on the issues, that that makes us necessarily right, it’s just where I happen to stand on the issues most of the time.

What I don’t get, at all, is when that spin goes so far that when you ask them about an issue they literally refuse to talk about it. This has been the case with every single person I’ve been able to engage with one on one with Top Two primary rules.

With Top Two, only two candidates are allowed through a primary and onto the general election ballot. I call them Choke Point primaries, because that is precisely what they are – they create a choke point so general election voters have less choices.

I don’t like Top Two, for a whole slew of reasons you could write a short book about, but I can theoretically see how someone might disagree with me. I’d really love to know what those disagreements are… but every single time I talk to spokespersons for it, most notably Gwen Mandell, staff member of IndependentVoting.org, and Nancy Hanks, an active member of that organization who blogs at The Hankster, they refuse to engage into a debate about Top Two. A recent post on my blog illustrates the kind of garbage these people use to push Top Two.

Just like in California, they pretend that Top Two is the same thing as Open Primaries. Open Primaries are one of several changes brought along by Prop 14, some of which I couldn’t be more for. But other parts, like Top Two, are so amazingly bad I think they outweigh the rest.

I’m beginning to see their strategy… I had suspected this before, and had been warned of it from a few people, but I didn’t think they’d go this far with their strange avoidance on the issue. This level of message control just isn’t possible across several people without coordination. People are generally open with their opinions… especially bloggers.

What this shows is that they know they can’t sell Top Two without hiding it behind Open Primaries. If they didn’t think this, they’d respond to arguments on Top Two with the positive aspects of how only allowing two people through to the general is necessarily better than allowing more, like a normal political debate. But they don’t even spin the issue, they ignore it completely, and hide it behind the banner of something else that is popular and much less controversial.

In other words… on a level playing field, they know we win.

The battle isn’t in the marketplace of ideas, we’ve already won there, the fight is in popular conception. Our job, as people who see the danger, and see through these people’s lies, is to make sure that the media, and people on the ground in states where they’re pushing this garbage, know that Top Two has nothing to do with Open Primaries, its a Choke Point, that limits their choices in the general election – where most people pay attention and vote.

Its a classic bait and switch.

While they want to limit your choices, we want to give you more choices. The solution is real open primaries, as well as open general elections.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Lt. Governor Abel Maldonado, the California Independent Voter Network and the Yes on Prop 14 campaign have asked the courts to allow them to intervene as defendants in the lawsuit against state Senate Bill 6. A hearing regarding whether they have legal standing to intervene is scheduled for Tuesday, August 24, 9 a.m. in the County of San Francisco’s Superior Court of California.

Richard Winger, plaintiff in the lawsuit against SB 6, and Christina Tobin, CEO and founder of Free and Equal Elections Foundation and StopTopTwo.org creator, gave a press conference at the California State Capitol, Tuesday, August 17, where they called for Maldonado to help fix the problems in SB 6 that resulted in the lawsuit. While that was happening, Maldonado and the two groups were attempting to insert themselves into the lawsuit against SB 6. Torey Van Oot, from the Sacramento Bee’s Capitol Alert blog, announced the SB 6 press conference, and has an article on Maldonado’s attempted interference.

“Maldonado should be fixing the problems in SB 6, not trying to take over as a defendant for the other side,” Tobin said. “He might need a different kind of intervention if he actually thinks the write-in procedures of SB 6 are the least bit acceptable, not to mention for his behavior holding the state budget hostage in exchange for passing this unrelated legislation. They need to stop trying to cover up the blatant problems SB 6 creates. It was sloppy legislation passed in the wee hours of the morning without public input or expert opinion. Maldonado and his cohorts are being dishonest in refusing to admit that.”

“SB 6 creates a ballot with a specific space for voters to write-in a candidate, but it bans those votes from being counted,” Tobin said. “That little detail wasn’t on the ballot June 8th. Nor was there anything on the ballot mentioning that some candidates will be able to identify which political party they prefer, while other candidates cannot. When Abel or his friends start talking about those two issues we might start to believe they are sincere about reforming California politics.”

Maldonado’s statement, put out by NewsBlaze, said, “The measure overwhelmingly passed and is now being challenged by political insiders who strive to maintain a dysfunctional status quo.”

“With lies like this, Maldonado needs an intervention,” Tobin said. “He needs to stop drinking the typical politician kool-aid with his empty soundbite rhetoric, fake reforms, and meddling in lawsuits to cover up the problems he created. Proposition 14, getting 53.7% of the primary vote with only a 33% turnout is hardly overwhelming. The plaintiffs and Free and Equal are not rich or connected insiders, unlike Governor Schwarzenegger’s $5 million Yes on Prop 14 campaign. CAIVN and their cheerleader, Steve Peace, have their own special agenda as well.”

“Free and Equal strives for consideration of real election reforms such as proportional representation, which is used in 73 countries,” Tobin said. “Gautam Dutta, legal counsel for the lawsuit against SB 6, and Steve Chessin, plaintiff in the lawsuit just discussed proportional representation in depth on our radio show. If that doesn’t prove we’re political outsiders looking to truly break the dysfunctional status quo I don’t know what will.”

“Not one country uses a Top Two election system similar to what SB 6 and Proposition 14 creates,” Tobin said. “Washington’s Top Two system hasn’t done anything but further entrench the status quo there. Maldonado, CAIVN, and Schwarzenegger’s rich and connected Yes on Prop 14 campaign need to stop covering up the problems with SB 6 and Top Two election systems and look at real election reforms.”

StopTopTwo.org, through Free and Equal, has issued several statements regarding the lawsuit against SB 6 recently: StopTopTwo.org’s Christina Tobin Tells Governor Schwarzenegger to Chill Out, on July 30; Richard Winger and Christina Tobin to Host Sacramento Press Conference on Election Reforms, on August 13; and SB6 Lawsuit Discussed at Tuesday Press Conference at California State Capitol, on August 16.