Prop 14 establishes an open primary in California. Essentially, it will be like having two general elections. The first general election is a “qualifying round” where only the top 2 candidates with the most votes in each race will face off in the November general election, regardless of party affiliation. So potentially two Democrats or two Republicans could battle it out in a November election for the their respective seats.

Check out this MSNBC video on the passage of Prop 14.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Interestingly enough, both the Democratic and Republican Parties both staunchly opposed this proposition and for good reason. Sure, it weakens the major parties and they have self-preservation to think about (especially the Republicans), but also because its really just a bad idea.

You all of a sudden have two general elections to run. Running campaigns in California is expensive and when you have to talk to everyone in the state, the numbers add up really fast. Primary elections are usually cheaper because they only target their party affiliates. But now they will have to do the entire state twice.

Now, some people think this may be a good thing because it will force candidates to moderate themselves to appeal to all of California, thus, becoming more democratic. But people are really only thinking of the big ticket races and don’t see how this is actually wholly undemocratic because it actually encourages deal making and a smaller candidate field.

Votes are a finite resource. There are only so-many votes in California to fight over and when you have everyone and their mother fighting for votes in an open primary, you essentially shrink everyone’s piece of the pie. You then end up with situations where there top 2 vote getters in a race only represent a small percentage of the entirety of the region or district. Now that youre thinking about that, think about this…

Picture a place like Orange County. We all know the OC is filled with Republican voters. Many more Republicans than Democrats. But in a place like this under this system, an election involving the OC in its district could easily end up going Democrat. Sure, as Democrats we would love to see this, but think about how un-democratic this is. If there were five candidates in a race, 2 Dems and 3 GOPs and votes were distributed roughly evenly among their party affiliates, you would end up with a situation where the top 2 vote getters in orange county are actually the 2 Democrats. Then in the November general election, the people of Orange County, a very heavily GOP county, would have no choice but to vote for either one of the 2 Democrats or not vote at all.

Do you see where i’m going with this? Better order another drink because the bar is closing.

$64 MILLION!! That’s a lot of cash.  As California suffers from the worst economic environment since the Great Depression, can you think of a few things CA could use that money towards?  Well, the California Democratic Party can:

Help EBYD stop Queen Meg from buying California and support Jerry Brown for Governor!

And just for fun… a little nostalgia…

There is a candidate for statewide office here in California who has exaggerated their credentials, taken credit where credit is not due and poured millions of their own money into their campaign coffers.  If you guessed Meg Whitman you would be wrong.  It’s Democrat Chris Kelly who is running for attorney general.

I hate to break it to California voters, but this is Chris Kelly’s kingdom and we’re just visiting.  Mini Meg, as some have come to call him, is content as he pours his own fortune into his campaign.  Kelly has already dumped around $10 million of his money in his campaign.  Sure, hes not even close to the kinds of money that his GOP counterparts, Queen Meg and Steve Poisner have poured into their own camps, but considering other AG candidates like Ted Lieu, Alberto Torrico and Kamala Harris have been running solely on donation from supporters, he clearly has the similar conviction that he can buy the Democratic nomination.

Then there is his recent TV ad in all its glory.  Most of us tend to embellish a little bit when we tell a story.  Like that little fish you caught was actually a 10lb-er, or you totally kicked that one guy’s ass when in reality he just happened to trip on the sidewalk.  But when you spend $10 million of your own money and a new SurveyUSA Poll shows you third in line behind behind Kamala Harris and Rocky Delgadillo, then you definitely try turning water into wine when it comes to padding up your resume.

But only in a Chris Kelly kingdom he claim credit for President Bill Clinton’s 1994 passage of the Crimes Bill.  In his TV ad, Kelly claims that he helped put 100,000 new cops on the streets as a policy advisor for Bill Clinton.  But this isn’t true.  Chris Kelly, 23 years old at the time, was a junior level staffer… in the Department of Education.  Not even some mail-room intern in the Justice Department.  Wow.  Even Karl Rove would say that’s a stretch.

Chris Kelly also claims as Facebook’s privacy czar, he has worked with all 50 states’ attorney generals.  Well, yea… i can tell you that you will work and develop a relationship with all 50 state attorney generals real fast when you’re hit with a subpoena because of Facebook’s egregious privacy policies, as the SF Chronicle reported last month.   That’s like saying im experienced in working with the police departments of Oakland, Berkeley, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Fresno and Santa Monica because i got a parking ticket in all those cities.

How about protecting consumers?  Ask the millions of people who use Facebook if they feel protected by Chris Kelly.   Kelly was the man behind Facebook’s privacy policies that received a lot of negative attention and in December of 2009, the uproar over privacy (or lack thereof) at Facebook was the result of privacy guidelines HE designed.  Maybe that’s why Kamala Harris has twice as many Facebook fans as him?  I know, Chris-  when the online community of the company you used to work for and now tout as your biggest asset prefers Kamala over you 2-to1, it’s like being rejected by an old girlfriend.  That’s gotta hurt.

This misleading ad has not gone unnoticed.  The blog California Majority Report and the Fresno Bee newspaper, two sides of the political spectrum, have brought attention to the inaccuracies of Kelly’s claims.  Kamala’s camp has also released a video ripping apart this ad (see below).

Chris Kelly lives in his own world and we’re just visiting.  It’s time to wake up and realize that we need a attorney general who has experience in the real world.  A candidate who has created real policies to address all levels of crime and looks not just to put criminals in jail but to keep them from having to be put in their to begin with.  This is why Kamala Harris is the right vote for the Democratic nomination for attorney general.

Join EBYD and support Kamala Harris as the next California Attorney General!

Check out Kamala’s video in response to Kelly’s TV ad:

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Kamala Harris is endorsed by EBYD as our choice for Attorney General of CA.  To see a list of other EBYD endorsed candidates, please visit our Endorsements page.

EBYD endorses the following candidates and issues for the June 2010 ballot:

Propositions

Prop 14 - OPPOSE

Prop 15 - SUPPORT

Prop 16 - OPPOSE

Prop 17 - OPPOSE

Local Candidates

(Read Completed Candidate Questionnaires Submitted Before Meeting)

Alameda County Supervisor, District 3 - No Position

Alameda County Superior Court Judge - Victoria Kolakowski

Alameda County Democratic Central Committee -

Andrew Kelley, Edie Irons, Elizabeth Echols, Carl Jamaillo, Beverly Greene

Alameda County Board of Education - Joaquin Rivera

Congressional Representative, 9th CD - Barbara Lee

CA State Senate, SD 10 - Ellen Corbett

CA State Assembly, AD 16 –  Sandre Swanson

CA State Assembly, AD 14 - Nancy Skinner

Statewide Candidates

U.S. Senate – Barbara Boxer

Governor - Jerry Brown

Lt. Governor - No Position

Attorney General - Kamala Harris

Insurance Commissioner - Dave Jones

Secretary of State - Debra Bowen

Treasurer - Bill Lockyer

Superintendent of Public Instruction - No Position

Board of Equalization - Betty Yee

State Controller – John Chiang

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EBYD Endorses the following candidates for office in California Young Democrats to be voted upon a the 2010 CYD Convention in Los Angeles

President – Alissa Ko

VP of Membership – Jennifer Longley

VP of Finance – Eddie Kirby

Secretary – Jonathan Goetz

Political Director – Julie Lind

Parliamentarian - Gabe Kearney

National Committeeman – Christopher Guererro

National Committeewoman – Erin Carlstrom

CBAY Regional Director – Jason Overman

*EBYD By-Laws state that a candidate must recieve 60% of votes cast to recieve endorsement. If this threshold is not met, EBYD takes “No Position” on that race*

Capitol Corridor-South Terminal Station Improvement
Capitol Corridor-YoloXover (Yolo West Crossover)
Capitol Corridor-Track Relocation
Pacific Surfliner -Railroad Crossover Program
Pacific Surfliner – Oceanside Stub Project 1
Pacific Surfliner Corridor-MOW Spurs
Los Angeles to Fullerton Triple Track
Pacific Surfliner Corridor-PE NEPA Ortega
Pacific Surfliner -Corridor Strategic Assessment
Rolling Stock-Locomotive Emissions Upgrade (including San Joaquins)
Rolling Stock-Cab Car Bicycle Storage

I am a staunch supporter of high speed rail in California, and all over the US for that matter.  I have wanted to see a high speed rail in our state since i was a little kid.  I remember absolutely HATING the fact that my mother, who refused to drive through Tehachapi, would make me and my sister join her in the 5 hour journey to San Bernardino to visit my grandparents (driving in a car vs. public transit is only 4 hours).  The trip was a 1 hour Amtrak train ride from Hanford to Bakersfield, followed by a 4 hour bus ride from Bakersfield to San Bernardino.  I get closterphobic just thinking about it.  This same trip on the proposed CAHSR would take approximately 2 hours from Fresno to Ontario or Riverside stations.

The California High Speed Rail Authority released its business plan in December, detailing things like cost projections.  The plan stated it would cost about $42 billion to create the entire system.  Yes, $2.25 isn’t a lot vis a vis $42 billion, but it definately jumps starts a project and allows the Authority to create a visible and tangible portion of the system to help the hesitators and nay-sayors come over to the greener side.  Keep in mind that $42 billion is less than 1/3 the cost to expand our highways to accomodate the same number of projected future travelers at $150 billion.  Not to mention that whole, environmentally friendly and creating about 450,000 permanent and 500,000 temp jobs in the process and stimulating the economy in a recession, thingy…

Who’s excited?  I’m excited!

I will also give a plug to the grassroots organization working to help bring high speed rail to California: Californian’s for High Speed Rail.  They are a new group but i beleive they represent a great opportunity to bring on the ground momentum and make Californians excited about the idea of high speed rail.

This 12-minute video from 60-Minutes is a good, albeit brief, exploration of the crisis with an interview of the governator.

Link to CBS: California: Running Dry

Watch CBS News Videos Online

For more than three years, California has had no executions. Now, the Governor and the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) are considering new guidelines for how to restart executions, killing people by lethal injection.

Advocates are particularly concerned that the CDCR is trying to keep the public in the dark when it comes to executions. The proposed regulations:

• Limit the access of the media, preventing reporters from seeing critical parts of the process such as the mixing of the drugs.
• Hide the names of official witnesses from the public, even though these witnesses are present to represent the people of California.
• Do not allow the public, the media or even the attorney for the defendant to view the records made of the execution.
• Do not disclose the costs of executions.

Also, the CDCR has failed to allow members of the public to view all of the documents they relied on in developing the regulations, and has failed to notify those most affected, including women on death row.

In the midst of this budget crisis, we have more important things for state workers to do than spend their time – and our money – coming up with a new way to execute people.

Take action now to help prevent executions in California:

1. Submit your comments online. The government is required by law to read and consider all relevant comments, so what you say can truly make a difference. Weigh in prior to the hearing on June 30^th.

2. Join us on Tuesday, June 30^th in Sacramento for a Day of Action to End the Death Penalty. The Public Hearing on Lethal Injection Regulations will be held from 9:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. in the Department of Health Services Auditorium, 1500 Capitol Avenue, Sacramento. Free buses will be leaving from San Francisco and Oakland. Sign up for a bus at information@deathpenalty.org. Following the hearing, we will march to the Capitol to tell the governor and our legislator what we think.

3. Learn more about the issues. A telephone briefing will be held on Friday, June 26 for those who RSVP.