Differing views of prop 77

I endorse prop 77 here.

This Daily Kos diary doesn't present a coherent argument but does lead to the questions: are there more reasonable redistricting algorithms? Should we wait for one? Would the proposed algorithm lead to concentrated safe Democratic districts as well as poorer overall representation? The last question depends, I think, on n_district and the distribution of density center populations; but the self-interest argument in my earlier post suggests the safety issue is unlikely to be worsened.

In correspondence, Mark Kleiman points out to me that more contentious local elections (including primary elections) will sap California's ability to send money out of state to affect the national balance. I don't naively see why this would apply more to state Democrats than Republicans, though. And if 77 is likely to spread to red states, then whatever primary effect there is should cancel.

A counter-argument might be that this is a particularly important moment to be partisan - with responsible Republicans in power, we could afford to think long-term, but the Bush revolution must be stopped asap.

Dunno. Still planning to vote yes, but I'll keep looking for reasons not to.