This looks like - at least from an outsider’s point of view - something that could shake up Californian politics quite a bit. As noted above, the old system would assign delegates based on who won statewide; as a practical matter, this meant that in the very GOP-light districts it didn’t particularly matter who you and your neighbors voted for. If the delegate was for your guy, it was pretty much by accident.

Under this new system… well, while I don’t think that it’s going to affect the final delegate total all that much (the campaigns appear to be well aware of this change, and are shaping tactics to match) it will have some effect on the way the GOP treats California. Right now we treat CA as a potential spoiler state for Presidential elections: our opponents are not quite certain that they can simply ignore the GOP there, and losing CA’s electoral votes would be a disaster for them, so we can bleed Democratic coffers white every four years making them play defense.

All of this is fun, no question about it - but CA is a State that we could win*. Will reminding beleaguered Republicans in San Francisco and Los Angeles that the Party actually does care about their opinion on who should be President make that happen? Not a chance. Is it a good first step in a campaign to rebuild the Party in those districts? Yes, actually, it is.

Should be interesting to see: now if we can just get CA’s EVs apportioned by district winners, too. Tell you what, Democrats: I’ll endorse doing TX and FL if you stop logrolling CA. Any takers? No? Tsk, tsk, tsk…

Moe Lane

*No State is beyond the reach of either Party. The Democrats could take Texas or Georgia. The Republicans could win Massachusetts or Illinois. We’ve/they’ve done it in the past; we/they can do it again.