A New Day in CaliforniaRandy Shawbyline‚ Feb. 07‚ 2008Progressives disappointed over Barack Obama’s California numbers can be cheered by three critical facts. First, Obama did much better than was projected only a month ago, and California’s delegate selection process minimized Clinton’s popular vote margin. Second, the defeat of Proposition 93 promises to usher in a new era of progressive leadership in Sacramento, with the possibility that a “dream team” of Karen Bass as Assembly Speaker and Darrell Steinberg as Senate pro tem could be installed this session. Third, Prop 93’s defeat set up contested Democratic primary contests across the state, which will greatly increase voter turnout in June for the campaign to defeat Prop 98 – the measure to abolish rent control. The California Republican Party put ideology over pragmatic politics in spending heavily to defeat Prop 93, enabling the state’s progressives to come out of the February 5th election stronger than before. |