This needs to happen. Vol 3030

I am good at very few things.^sd

One of those things is pontificating about things in which i have no real reason to pontificate on. Politics is (are?) one of those things. So, seeing as I have the forum and/or soapbox to do so, I might as well make use of it.

Anyhoo.

I was watching The Colbert Report^sd2 and some guy^sd3 was talking about California's new proposed law (initiative?) that makes partisan primaries, well, illegal. Basically, what would happen is that there would be an open primary and the top two vote getters would be in the actual election.

To be honest I’m not totally against this. Partially because of Colbert’s reaction. He says, basically, that this will create more elected moderates. Now, again, I’m not a guy who’s in the in on politics and who does what and how much senator x plays to the base and how much he plays to the corporations, but I don’t really see this as a bad idea. Like seriously. This is probably one of the better ideas I’ve seen come out of politics in a while.

Look, in most states/districts, the primary is laughable anyway. Like the OH-11 (where humble ditriech is from) has been solidly Dem since 1983 (the year young ditriech was born). And it’s not just there. The California 5th, the Michigan 15th and the Pennsylvania 2nd have been solid Democrat since 1949, 1933 (when the frakking district was created), and 1949 respectively. And the Louisiana 1st, Missouri 8th, Wyoming at large and the Tennessee 2nd have been Republican since 1977, 1981, 1979 (when former Vice President Dick “Go fuck yourself” Cheney was the rep) and 1867.

Seriously. Think about that last one. A non-Republican hasn’t won the Tennessee 2nd since the fucking Civil War for frak’s sake. What is the point of a partisan primary there?

And in the competitive states, the candidates that better represent their constituents interests, regardless of party, will typically be in the top two. So how is this bad? How is the fact that an elected official accurately represents where they come from a bad thing? Why can’t we do this a) in California, and b) everywhere?

Playing to extremists obviously isn't working. I mean, that’s what got us these Tea Partiers and the fact that they can actually change Republican primaries^sd4 to begin with isn't it? Let’s govern America by actual Americans with actual beliefs instead of a party line. At the very least, it would be shit tons more fun.

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sd:: This is probably a lie.

sd2: a day late, as usual. Also, may I present the fact that no entertainer ever has as much fun on his show as Colbert. First off, if we are to believe that it actually is all an act a) it is the greatest act ever, because it is so over the top and hyperbolic and spot on and this is most telling in b) The fact that actual conservatives believe that he is only pretending to pretend (doubling or quadrupling if you will) so they love him too. Probably one of the greatest things ever. Secondly, watching him a) sing along with OK Go and b) Storm off because he wouldn't be interviewing the cartoon Gorillas and coming back on as Stephen  Colbert (/koʊlbərt/) to interview the actual Gorillas. And if you you think about it, this is even more awesome because the cartoon Colbert (/koʊlˈbɛr/) wanted to interview the cartoon Gorillas, and the real Colbert interviews the real Gorillas. Genius.

sd3: Apparently his name is "Abel Maldonado" and he's the "Lieutenant Governor of California"

sd4: see early clip w/r/t Crist.