[Sean]

I actually missed out on voting with what has turned out to be a serious disc protrusion that's pinching a nerve and causing constant, searing pain in the right side of my upper back, all the way down my right arm. But that aside, I was torn on how I would have voted for prop 14.

Basically, I think we have a major problem in how party-centric primaries are. Candidates campaigning during the primaries are typically forced to play to the base of their parties - typically the more extreme folks - just to win the nomination, while the more moderate primary candidates fall by the wayside. The clearest example to me was back in 2000, when McCain lost the primary race to Bush, because McCain was too moderate for the tastes of the Republican base. Hell, that's why we have to deal with an idiot like Sarah Palin now. Yet again, McCain was forced to satisfy the Republican base by bringing on a token extremist, and voilÃ* - a moron is unleashed on the world. So anyway, we end up being stuck with candidates in the general election that are ready to serve either the extreme left or the extreme right, but where does that leave the majority of the country, which consists of moderates on both sides of the political spectrum and independents? It leaves us stuck on the outside while Democrats and Republicans prioritize what's best for their party over what's best for the country. And that is what has brought us to a place where elections are beginning earlier and earlier every cycle, so our representatives spend more time campaigning than they do governing.

My biggest fear about prop 14 is how it can be abused by the wealthy, just as the article you linked mentioned Cacophony. But that seems like a separate problem to me, as illustrated by the primary race for the Republican Gubernatorial candidate this year. Meg Whitman against Steve Poisner. They estimate that Whitman outspent her opponent by at least seven times, using her own personal fortune to do so of course. So with or without prop 14, it seems that campaign finance laws still have a long way to go before we have an ideal system.

So I don't know, I actually lean towards the idea of prop 14 based on what I know now. I could definitely be swayed though, as it's a subject I still have much to learn about.