New video update above ⬆️
You can listen to this post on our podcast feed, So, Does It Matter? SPOKEN. It’s available on your favorite podcasting app, or you can find it here.
The Top Two: It Does Not Do What It Set Out To Do
I tend to write more than I film — but a lot of readers have been asking me for short video “takes” that aren’t too long but are informative. So I thought I would record a quick video on California’s “Top Two” election system and the growing push to get rid of it. Unlike some of my other videos, I haven’t written a full column on this topic yet — so this is more of a direct commentary and analysis.
In this short video, I break down what California’s election system looked like before the passage of Prop. 14 in 2010, why supporters claimed the “Top Two” system would produce more moderate politics, and why I believe the exact opposite has happened.
I also talk about how the system increasingly favors candidates with massive fundraising advantages, either themselves or well-heeled interest groups, why so many voters end up effectively disenfranchised in November when they’re forced to choose between two candidates they don’t agree with, and why the promised era of “moderation” never really materialized.
Plus: the new effort underway to undo the Top Two system, why it would likely require Democrats themselves to decide the experiment has failed, and why I think California voters deserve real choices on the ballot again.
I will write on this soon. But you can check out more at www.UndoTheTopTwo.com, which just launched.
