Schwarzenegger Campaigns for Election Reform

Schwarzenegger Campaigns for Election Reform in the LA Times today:

He writes primarily about term limits but also Campaign Finance reform and Redistricting.

We need redistricting reform to make the political system more competitive and more representative of the citizens of California. We need campaign finance reform to limit the influence of money in politics, and it is time to reform legislative term limits.

…Though some progress was made last year on that issue, we have not been able to agree on a redistricting measure in the Legislature; I’m supporting a proposal that was drafted by reform allies including AARP, Common Cause and the League of Women Voters.

While I welcome his leadership on election reform I am less excited about the idea of term limits. The main argument for term limits is that representatives can become detached from their constituents and fall to the influence of special interests. I would prefer that this risk be resolved through redistricting that makes campaigns more competitive so that candidates have to struggle to appeal to the independent and moderate voters. A candidate that can accomplish this is the kind of representative who is more likely to be grounded in a temperament of pragmatism, reality, cooperation, collaboration, and persuasion, rather than inflammatory extremism meant to provoke those with the least open minds among us – both Ds and Rs.

But I will not quibble if his success with adjusting term limits is a springboard to reform of public finance of campaigns and redistricting.

In the recent past the main adversaries to these reforms are the Democrats who apparently want to hold onto their current advantage in California. This is one of the quintessential reasons I define myself as an independent even though I share so few values with the current GOP. Given the chance, the Democrats are just as likely to abuse power and put party above progress. Witness recent stories about John Murtha’s abuse of earmarks.