November 2nd, 2010. Election Day. It was a day that Democrats across the country drank away their sorrows as they suffered massive losses in the House (64 seats) and Senate (6 seats). Yet, even as a sea of red spread across the map, California remained blue. Democrats Jerry Brown—in the governor’s race—and Barbara Boxer—in the Senate race—coasted to victory with double-digit margins. Why was this so? How did California resist the nationwise backlash of Democratic leadership in Washington when other states succumbed?
Many would argue that this is because of California’s liberal tradition. California has been, and always will be, a state for “lefties.” People voted for Brown and Boxer simply because they are Democrats. I concede that a part of this is certainly true. California has not only the largest population out of any of the states but also the most diverse, and the large minority population, including Latinos and African Americans, tends to vote Democratic. Yet, if California is just a state of crazy lefties, why didn’t Proposition 19 pass? Surely, legalizing marijuana is liberal enough, isn’t it?
If we take a closer look at the ballot measures, we see that California voters were disillusioned with not just Republicans, but Democrats as well. In fact, Propositions 20, 25, and 26 curb the power of politicians across the aisle. Proposition 20 reforms the redistricting process by effectively getting rid of gerrymandering. Currently, the legislative commision which draws Congressional districts allows 99% of incumbents to be reelected. I have seen the effects of this partisan redistricting in my own district, District 41. In my district, incumbent Republican Jerry Lewis has been consistently voted into office by double-digit margins, despite being regarded as one of the most corrupt people in Congress. After 2010, this may no longer be the case. In place of a legislative commision, Proposition 20 empowers a citizen commission composed of 5 Democrats, 5 Republicans, and 4 citizens to draw electoral districts.
Similarly, Proposition 25 is a solution for the gridlock in the state budget making process by rolling back the votes necessary to pass a budget from a 2/3 majority to a simple majority. This year, the state budget was passed 100 days late, largely because the Democratic majority could not scrap the few Republican voices for the 2/3 majority necessary. Yet, voters ensured that the Democratic majority in the legislature would not abuse this new power by passing Proposition 26. Proposition 26 makes passing certain state fees a 2/3 majority rather than a simple majority, a check on the Democratic majority from raising certain taxes at will.
If this midterm election tells anything about California, its that we’re not just a bunch of crazy lefties. California voters are fed up with partisanship. We’re fed up with gridlock. But what we didn’t do is let our anger sway us to vote all incumbents out of office.
We know from experience that taking out our frustrations by electing an unqualified fresh face was not the answer to the increasing pile of problems in the state (remember when Governor Gray Davis was removed from office and replaced with that Austrian body builder?). The same cannot be said of Wisconsin (R.I.P. Russ Feingold). No, California voters voted for Jerry Brown because we think he’s more qualified for the job than Meg Whitman. Of course, this means that Brown and the newly elected Democratic leadership are responsible for the overwhelmingly difficult task of fixing our ailing state. But we aren’t saying that they should do it alone. We also charge Republicans with the task of reaching across the aisle to help the Democrats affect real reform.
In her most recent blog post, “No We Can’t? Searching for Obama’s Audacity in the Post Midterm World,” my fellow blogger Beatrice Walton observed the lack of optimism Obama has been showing since his Democratic majority evaporated in the midterms. It seems that his message from 2008 of “Hope” and “Change” all but evaporated with it. I say, hold on a second. There may yet be cause to celebrate. Perhaps, Obama need only look to California for hope, and not just because it remained blue. No, the same state that voted overwhelmingly for change in 2008 showed in 2010 that they want to see this change happen across the aisle.