Feinstein's Phony Reform

by Thomas Gangale
California Notes
21 November 2007

During the past week, a wave of outrage has swept through the California Democratic Party in response to Senator Dianne Feinstein's vote to confirm Judge Michael Mukasey as the new United States Attorney General, a guy who, if interviewed as a candidate to become the next Olympics Committee chair, might offer the same equivocating testimony on the prospect of waterboarding as a new competition for the Summer Games. (Certainly the USA could field the Dream Team for this event.) A resolution censuring Senator Feinstein, which has been adopted by numerous local Democratic clubs, county central committees, and even several caucuses of the CDP, alludes to other "instances where Senator Feinstein, after seeking and securing the support and endorsement of the California Democratic Party, has worked to oppose the policies and principles of our party."

In one of my areas of expertise--electoral reform--I can testify to a couple of instances of Senator Feinstein's inadequate performance. The issues I address in this article and the following one add to the troubling picture of a Senator who is out of touch with the opinions and interests of the people of California.

One electoral reform issue is the Electoral College. Most Californian's don't like it, and with good reason. Electoral votes for president of the United States are allocated to the states on the basis of their representation in Congress, and of course, while the apportionment of representation in the House of Representatives is on the basis of population, the allocation of two senators to each state, regardless of population, violates the democratic principle of one person, one vote. Thus, California's 33.9 million people (as of the 2000 US Census) were allocated 55 electors (53 House seats plus two Senate seats). That's 616,000 Californians per elector. Wyoming--the least populous state--has 494,000 people and three electors (one House seat plus two Senate seats). That's only 165,000 Wyomingites per elector. In other words, one voter in Wyoming has nearly four times the political power of one Californian.

So, in March 2005, Senator Feinstein introduced a measure to abolish the Electoral College and elect the president by direct popular vote. What's wrong with that idea? Theoretically, nothing; practically, everything.

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