NCGA Does the Right Thing. Sort of.

A Senate bill (SB656), already passed by the NC Senate, is now out of committee in the NC House, and scheduled for a vote on Tuesday, June 26.  The "committee substitute" bill is here, if you want to look at it.....

What would this mean? NC has had some really restrictive ballot access laws, since 1983. In particular,
it now takes about 110,000 (individually validated) signatures to get on the ballot ("access") and 2% of the vote in either the Prez or Gov races to stay on the ballot once on ("retention").

The bill, if it passes, and it's expected to pass, would change those rules as follows:
Access: 10,000 signatures
Retention:  Either the 2% rule for Prez or Gov votes in NC in previous election OR have "a candidate" on the ballot in 80% of the states.

Now, the Libertarian Party has been on the ballot continuously since 2008, when (ahem) I got more the 2% of the vote for Gov.  In 2012, Barbara Howe did it, and in 2016 Lon Cecil did it.  A number of Republicans blame the LP for the Republican loss of the Gov race in 2008 (implausible) and in 2016 (extremely plausible).

But the point is that the LP is already on, again, for 2020. My man Gary Johnson actually got 2.74%, 130k votes, the first time an LP Prez candidate has EVER secured ballot access in NC.  Whoo-HOO!

Okay, so here's the thing. The Republicans don't have many chances to look like they are for ballot access, or expanding electoral freedoms (which include voting for the candidate of your choice). AND, they are likely tired of having to lose some votes, enough in close races to change the outcome, to the annoying "third party" Libertarians.

You can have a double win, if you are a Republican strategist, by cutting the restrictions on ballot access! You get credit for having a more sensible and less draconian set of rules, more in line with other states (NC regularly makes, on merit, those "Worst Laws in the US" lists, when it comes to ballot access).

And you get the Greens on the ballot, diverting votes from the Dems! Is there a downside?

I don't really see one. An interesting question is whether Gov. Cooper will sign it.  If a goofball like me can figure this out, I expect Mr. Cooper will not need to have the effects explained to him. But it will be difficult to veto the thing, because it really does just bring NC back into compliance with pretty normal rules for party access. This is hardly a radical bill, it just also "happens" to help the Republicans at the ballot box.  (Here is a story from the right-leaning Carolina Journal, which doesn't mention the political angle--adding Greens takes away Dem votes--or, oddly, the new 80% retention rule added in the committee version).

EDIT: The reason the 80% (40 states) is important is that Stein was on the ballot in 44 states in 2016.  That means that, depending on the way the law is interpreted retroactively (and it seems to be retroactive, since it says "previous election"), Greens would be on the ballot for the 2018 midterm elections in NC.

GOP: The More Candidates, The Scarier

From my friend David Frist over at AHI, a piece on "Real Clear Politics."

Excerpt:

An important factor in lengthening the candidate roster and also making a quick winnowing unlikely is a long decline in political discipline among conservatives, who for many decades have dominated the Republican electorate. One notable result of this indiscipline is trouble judging who is most worth backing in a presidential race – the proliferation of fuzzy thinking about who is most likely to win a general election, remain true to conservative principles, and deliver for conservatives as president. This situation results from at least two causes. One is conservatives' and libertarians' ambivalent attitude toward power and therefore toward practical, as distinct from merely expressive, politics. The other is their long record of frustration with presidential power and federal authority.

No Tagbacks: Political Theater In Raleigh

My good friend Agent Pierce offers some commentary on the staged events in Raleigh.  Yes, he's way over the top here, and out of line, but that's why he's charming.

As far as I can tell, "Moral Monday" is Rocky Horror Picture Show for Progressives.  They dress up, they recite lines, they shriek at all their favorite parts of the show.

I can see why people are disappointed with the Republican General Ass., and I can see why people who had hoped that Gov. Pat would actually behave like a centrist are pissed.  But the problem is that we are all stuck in this "elections have consequences" thing.  President Obama didn't start it, but he raised it to whole new level.

Thomas Jefferson said it best:  “Great innovations should not be forced on slender majorities.” When our current President announced that "Elections have consequences" and "I won!", that ushered in a whole new era of no-tagback politics, in keeping with what Congressional Dems had been saying.  When you are IT, you are IT, and that's IT. Just do what you want, because you won't be the majority for long. This op-ed from the WaPo has proved prophetic:  BHO just completely misunderstood what politics is like.  Our own President Obamorsi is not in danger of a military replacement, but given his total lack of experience in ever doing...well, anything, other than giving speeches, it is not surprising that he has not been able to create majorities to do anything.  Prez. Morsi tried to please the Muslim Brotherhood with that kind of "elections have consequences, and we won!" stuff.  It makes no sense.

Are the Republicans to blame also?  Of course.  It takes two parties to ruin a republic.  And our two parties are ruining us with real gusto.

Whatever happened to the 22nd Amendment?

Is it just me or does it really seem like George Bush is now in his 4th term as president?

He finally got 99% of his tax cuts made permanent. Warrantless wiretapping is proceeding full speed ahead. We are still running huge deficits. Drones use continues to rise.

Hell there's even a natural disaster where people are mad about the lack of a government response!

I just don't see how conservatives get all tied up in knots about president O. After all, despite some differences in style and tone, he's pretty much one of them.