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2008
Gerrymandering The Vote: How A “Dirty
Dozen” States Suppress As Many As 9 Million Voters
Democratic Leadership Council
June 2008
Editorial: Perata's Power Play
San Francisco Chronicle
June 30, 2008
Democrats Fear Redistricting Measure Would
Curb Their Power In State
San Francisco Chronicle
June 27, 2008
Election-Map Initiative Helps Voters, State
Progress
Sacramento Bee
June 27, 2008
Politics And California Redistricting
CaliforniaProgressReport.com
June 27, 2008
Millions On Line In Ballot Drives
Sacramento Bee
June 24, 2008
Democratic Leaders Accused Of Pressuring
Supporters Of Redistricting Measure
Contra Costa Times Sacramento Bureau
June 21, 2008
California Is Branded Among A 'Dirty
Dozen' On Gerrymandering
Los Angeles Times
June 19, 2008
Redistricting In California: Control or
Democracy?
CaliorniaProgressReport.com
June 19, 2008
Changing Method Of Redistricting Makes
Ballot
San Francisco Chronicle
June 18, 2008
Government Reformer Down On Redistricting
Initiative
PolitickerCA.com
June 18, 2008
Redistricting Initiative Makes California
Ballot
San Jose Mercury News
June 17, 2008
Democratic Party Takes Stands On Ballot
Measures
CaliforninaMajorityReport.com
June 17, 2008
Cavala: Republicans Kill Reform Bill That
Hurts GOP Chances While Democrats Support 'Reform' That Hurts Their Chances
CaliforniaProgressReport.com
June 9, 2008
Speaking With The New Speaker
Los Angeles Times
June 2, 2008
Two Plans Created To Reform Districts
Modesto Bee
May 19, 2008
New Speaker Should Focus On Public
Interest
Los Angeles Daily News
May 13, 2008
Why Schwarzenegger's Redistricting Plan
Won't Work
California Majority Report.com
May 13, 2008
Tony Quinn: Redistricting Reform OK, But
It's Only A Start
Sacramento Bee
May 11, 2008
Governor May Face Donor Fatigue
Contra Costa Times
May 11, 2008
California Redistricting Plan Faces Hurdles
Capitol Weekly
May 7, 2008
Dan Walters: Competing Proposals For Remap
Sacramento Bee
May 7, 2008
Initiative On Redistricting Closer To
Ballot
San Francisco Chronicle
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
Nunez Pushes Ethics Plan As Rival Petitions
Are Filed
Sacramento Bee
May 7, 2008
To Get Leadership Reform, We First Need
Redistricting
Los Angeles Daily News
May 1, 2008
Good Intentions Could Harm Redistricting
Ballot Measure
Los Angeles Times
April 28, 2008
Redistricting On Track To Qualify,
Consultant Says
New America Foundation.com
April 23, 2008
Why Are GOP Contributors Putting Big Money
Into Redistricting Reform?
California Progress Report.com
April 19, 2008
Gov's
Giving To Remap Measure Tops $1 million
Sacramento Bee Capital Alert
April 21, 2008
‘Due
Process’ Democrats Have Their Heads Buried in the California Sand
California Progress Report.com
April 20, 2008
Opinion: Seeing The Light
Los Angeles Daily News
April 19, 2008
California
Voters FIRST Presents A Balanced And Bipartisan Effort For Redistricting
Reform
California Progress Report.com
April 17, 2008
Schwarzenegger's
Redistricting Plan Comes Under Fire
Contra Costa Times
April 17, 2008
Group Says Plan Will Put A Stop To
Gerrymandering
The Simi Valley Acron
April 4, 2008
The Need For Redistricting Reform From
This California Democrat’s Perspective
California Progress Report.com
April 4, 2008
Labor Says No To
Schwarzenegger/Republican/Common Cause Redistricting Measure
The California Majority Report.com
April 02, 2008
Revenge In Attack On Legislative
Redistricting?
California Progress Report.com
March 31, 2008
Weintraub: Governor Gets Another Shot At
Redistricting Reform
Sacramento Bee
March 30, 2008
Editorial: Can't Legislature Do Better Than
Bills On Dogs, Donkeys?
The Fresno Bee
March 30, 2008
Walters: Voters Irate At Budget Posturing
Sacramento Bee
March 28, 2008
New Foundation To Campaign For More Efficient
California Government
Sacramento Bee
March 27, 2008
Editorial: California Voters Should Support
Redistricting Ballot Measure
Fresno Bee
March 24, 2008
Editorial: Redraw the Map
Los Angeles Daily News
March 22, 2008
Walters: Court Ruling Offers Hope to
Dysfunctional California Politics
Sacramento Bee
March 19, 2008
Supreme Court to Hear Major Redistricting
Case
The Thicket at State Legislatures (ncsl.com)
March 18, 2008
Editorial: Let Citizens Redraw the Map
The Torrance Daily Breeze
March 17, 2008
Walters: Redistrict Reformers Miss Mark
Sacramento Bee
March 10, 2008
Let Citizens
Redraw Map
San Gabriel Valley Tribune
March 9, 2008
Governor Proposes Redistricting Ballot
Measure
North County Times
March 8, 2008
Redistricting Initiative Has Strong
Republican Backing
San Jose Mercury News
March 6, 2008
Governor Gathers Signatures to Qualify
Redistricting Measure
San Jose Mercury News
March 4, 2008
Manipulative Lawmakers Playing To The Crowd
Fresno Bee
February 14, 2008
State Voters Need To Do What Lawmakers
Won't
Los Angeles Daily News
February 14, 2008
Editorial: What We Need In Sacramento,
Redistricting, Not Retaliation
San Jose Mercury News
February 14, 2008
Redistricting Reform, Not Longer Terms, Is
The Answer
California Republic.org
February 12, 2008
The Buzz: A Hardball Tactic Could Ricochet
Sacramento Bee
February 11, 2008
Wake Up, Sacramento Media! Wake Up! Wake
Up! Wake Up!
San Diego Union Tribune
February 8, 2008
Editorial: Passive Aggressive Lawmakers
Just Play to the Crowd
Fresno Bee
February 8, 2008
Nunez Takes Blame For Prop. 93 Loss
Los Angeles Daily News
February 7, 2008
Weingand: Voters Got A Whiff and Said 'No'
Sacramento Bee
February 7, 2008
Lawmakers Believe In Term Limits But
Oppose The Measure
North County Times
February 4, 2008
Good For Us
Los Angeles Times
February 4, 2008
Commentary: A Conversation with Gov. Arnold
Schwarzenegger
Sacramento Bee
January 20, 2008
Walters: Two Party Structure Under Fire
Sacramento Bee
January 18, 2008
Walters: Governor's Brownian Flip-Flops
Sacramento Bee
January 16, 2008
Editorial: Corruption of a Good Idea
San Francisco Chronicle
January 15, 2008
Governor Supports Term Limit Measure
Sacramento Bee
January 15, 2008
A Deceptive Prop. 93
San Francisco Chronicle
January 10, 2008
Use Prop. 93 To Say 'No"
dailybreeze.com
January 3, 2008
more
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Walters: Poizner's three-fer
on limits
By Dan Walters, Bee Columnist
Sacramento Bee
November 7, 2007
Steve Poizner, who earned a fortune in the high-tech industry and
was elected state insurance commissioner a year ago, pledged Tuesday
to raise and spend whatever it takes to defeat the legislative
leadership's term limit measure on the Feb. 5 ballot. In so doing,
he enhanced his status as the leading Republican candidate for
governor in 2010.
Proposition 93 would modify legislative term limits, passed by
voters in 1990, from six years in the Assembly and eight in the
Senate to a total of 12 years that could be served in either house,
allowing Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez, Senate President Pro Tem
Don Perata and other termed-out lawmakers to extend their careers.
Poizner made a rare three-fer political maneuver by taking
command of the cash-strapped campaign against Proposition 93, to
wit:
• By designating himself as the opposition campaign's chief
spokesman, he will raise his public profile and bolster whatever
ambitions he may harbor for 2010 (for the record, he sidesteps that
aspect).
• By pumping $1.5 million of his own money – pocket change,
relatively speaking – and pledging to raise millions more from
himself and others to "do whatever it takes ... to educate
voters" about Proposition 93, he ensures that the opposition
campaign will be competitive.
• By denouncing Proposition 93 as "a naked power
grab" by Democratic legislative leaders, he will undercut the
measure's support among Republican voters, who, polls indicate,
believe that it would punish the Legislature.
Poizner flatly predicted that Proposition 93 will "go down
in flames," and the measure is already hurting. A Field Poll
released last week found that voter support had declined from 59
percent to 49 percent just since August. Any significant erosion of
Republican support could spell doom.
Democratic leaders and their allies clearly had hoped that by
stressing the measure's change from a 14-year overall limit to 12
years, it would draw support from those who dislike the Legislature.
The strategy initially appeared to be working – helped immensely
by a somewhat misleading official ballot summary prepared by
Attorney General Jerry Brown's office. But as the measure gained
more media attention and as legislative issues such as health care
and water stalled, support dwindled.
The skeletal opposition campaign had been seeking a deep-pocket
contributor to take advantage of the downward trend. It found its
angel in Poizner, who sold his high-tech company for about $1
billion in 2000 and turned his attention to politics.
Poizner and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger were the only Republican
winners in statewide political contests last year, and while the
flamboyant governor and the mild-mannered insurance commissioner are
completely dissimilar in personality, they share a centrist
ideology.
Poizner headed Schwarzenegger's unsuccessful drive in 2005 to
reform legislative and congressional redistricting and says that
opposing Proposition 93 stems from the same reformist bent, pointing
out that legislative leaders failed to make good on their promises
to overhaul redistricting while pushing ahead with a self-serving
term limit change.
Poizner's involvement in the opposition campaign ramps up
pressure on Schwarzenegger to follow suit. The governor has said he
didn't support loosening term limits but could tolerate it were it
part of a package that included redistricting reform – an attitude
generally adopted by the state's business community as well.
With the measure's support now declining and Poizner assuming
command of the opposition campaign, business groups are reassessing
their support of Proposition 93. Schwarzenegger is on the spot, even
as he tries to cut deals with Núñez and other Democratic leaders
on health care and water.
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