CA: Prop. 77 splits Common Cause organization

This post is for Joel who wanted to know more about Prop. 77 and Common Cause. At the national level, Common Cause supports Prop. 77 but the state level organization is not necessarily simpatico with that endorsement.

SF Chron reports:

Chellie Pingree, the national president of Common Cause, was among those who appeared alongside the governor in San Jose to underscore her national organization's endorsement of Proposition 77 on the Nov. 8 special election ballot. But the move has kicked up so much opposition in the California branch of Common Cause that some board members have threatened to resign.

"I can't comment on that, but I won't deny it,'' said Kathay Feng, executive director of Common Cause California in a phone interview.

The decision to endorse Prop. 77 was made by Common Cause's national leadership, which wanted the organization to speak with a single voice on redistricting changes proposed in Ohio, Florida and Massachusetts, as well as in California, Feng said.

Unfortunately, I'm not following this as closely as I want to due to my time limitations. The links within this post has more info on 77.

Worth noting in SFChron article is the message about the possible role Maria Shriver may play in the special election. I wonder how much she can bank on voter trust of the Kennedy name. She hasn't had much presence in this election. I've given up on her but I don't know how others see her at this point. Certainly it seems the Governor's team are pulling out their plan B cards at this point in the special election.

Also in the article is the new strategy by the Governor's side to play up bipartisanship. But that means the Dems on the Governor's side are worth checking out. The DLC aroma emanates from many. Notable is the Secretary of Education, Bersin, who has endorsed Prop. 76 which is the wicked multilevel effort to destroy public school funding in California.

Lots of stuff going on but the bottom line is voter turnout especially in this expensive effort by corporate interests to solidify their power and influence in Sacramento.