The landscape of California politics may be about to change dramatically.

An open primary system for state elections-- a primary that allows voters to cross party lines--will appear on the ballot in June 2010. State open primary elections would be similar to municipal elections, although the primary vote getter would not win outright---the top two vote-getters would proceed to a November run-off.

Why would anyone actually want to be the next governor of California?

Itis probably one of the toughest in jobs in the nation. The nextgovernor will find him or herself neck deep in a fiscal quagmire, acrippling drought, and a worsening recession. Put together, it is asituation worse than the one that led to Gray Davis' recall.

Her turn: When we met, I thought he wassmart, fun-loving and charming. He charmed me with his go, go, go attitude.Now, I'm not so sure. We fight all the time over finances. I want to stabilizethe budget by cutting back, but all he wants to do is spend, spend, spend.

His turn: She's never been as flashy as Iam, but that's part of what attracted me to her. She's dependable, solid.Lately, though, she's at my throat about everything. She says I don'tunderstand her world, and I do try, but she just seems so closed-minded.

To be sure, Assemblyman Tom Ammiano's bill to legalize marijuana in California is worthy of discussion.

Millions are spent on going after pot growers, sellers and users, to no noticeable effect. Any college student, aging hippie or suburban housewife who gets nauseous on aspirin can, with a little work, find a little weed for purchase.

Now that California's embarrassing budgetspectacle is thankfully over, it is reassuring that many of the GoldenState's elected officials and opinion leaders seem to be on the samepage about one thing -- doing away with the state Constitution-requiredtwo-thirds majority vote to approve budgets containing tax increases.

And now something completely different: an "open" primary, in more ways than one!

Republican California Sen. Abel Maldonado is to thank for the possibility of the open primary, an amendment to the state constitution known as SCA 4 or "The Top Two Candidates Open Primary Act." The deal-sweetener of February 19's budget, this act would provide a much-needed form of transparency, and may give innovative independents and conservatives their first real chance at meaningful and possibly majority-drive statewide leadership in many years.

The Top Two Candidates Open Primary initiative is based on Washington State’s primary system, which has already been approved by the US Supreme Court (Washington State Grange v. Washington State Republican Party).

Los Angeles Times Editorial - February 20, 2009:

The American Recovery and Investment Act of 2009, better known as the stimulus package worth a heaping $787.2 billion, sought in part to put Americans back to work. With $71 billion stipulated for energy and environmental incentives, and another $20 billion for green tax incentives, that funding has the potential to create a better environment, and the jobs--in California and beyond--to work toward it.

And so we take the first step toward one-party rule! In a blistering blast of naivete, State Senator Abel Maldonado has defected to the cause of the budgetary compromise with one condition attached to his move: there must be a proposal for nonpartisan primaries on the ballot.