The LA Times reports that California suffered a political triple whammy last week:
First came the end of the once-promising drive for a state constitutional convention….Last week’s second blow came when the Assembly rejected Sen. Abel Maldonado (R-Santa Maria) as lieutenant governor….The final blow was the revelation that Assembly Speaker Karen Bass (D-Los Angeles) and more than a dozen Democrats in Congress have together donated $160,000 from their political treasuries for a November ballot measure to scrap Proposition 11 — the same 2008 redistricting measure described above that caught them by surprise when it passed. They want to wrest back their power to pick their own voters before the reform affects a single election season.
The constitutional convention always seemed like a longshot to me, so I guess its failure doesn’t come as a big surprise. But rejecting the eminently qualified and reasonable Maldonado for the inconsequential job of lieutenant governor — apparently because Dems were unwilling to allow a Hispanic Republican to gain a higher profile — was both stupid and loathsome. And making the repeal of Prop 11 their highest priority is — well, let’s just go with stupid and loathsome again. These guys aren’t really worth a trip to the thesaurus.
The depth of California’s political suckitude is hard to fathom. It’s like a contest from hell, where both parties try to outdo each other in sleaze and contemptibility. Republicans have a pretty big lead, but it’s not insurmountable. Apparently Democrats are out to prove it.
