"The Challenge Was to Appeal to Both Wings of the California Republicans"

"Johnson, who had a 'Yosemite Sam' temperament, refused all such entreaties, stating in a telegram to Hughes' campaign manager that 'the men surrounding Mr. Hughes in California and who have been in charge of his tour, are much more interested in my defeat than in Mr. Hughes' election.' As far as Johnson was concerned, Hughes had thrown in his lot with the conservatives; there would be no rapprochement. And that meant Johnson and his California progressives would not lift a finger to help Hughes carry the state in November."

In Politico, Jeff Greenfield looks back to the 1916 presidential election.

"I Don't Think the Progressives Could Have Anticipated a Situation Like This"

"Yet other political observers believe that a failed recall against Newsom could trigger a reconsideration of the law. Political experts in both parties caution that the drive against Newsom could become a much closer call if conditions turn against him before the vote—if there's a resurgence of the virus, extensive problems with the power grid or wildfires, or a wide-scale disruption to the reopening of schools in the fall, to name some examples. But if conditions remain steady or improve and the recall is resoundingly rejected, it may be possible to persuade both Democratic legislators and voters to back changes. 'You have to tighten up these procedures and processes to make sure this is not some frivolous alternative that Republicans are using to gain power in California because they can't win fair and square at the ballot box,' South told me."

Ronald Brownstein at The Atlantic discusses "The Trouble With the Gavin Newsom Recall."

And California State Senator Bob Hertzberg discusses the similar problem with the state referendum system.

"Government on Autopilot"

"As Mathews and Paul argue, the two-thirds rule didn't keep anybody honest. In fact, requiring such broad, cross-party consensus—more than a simple majority, which is to say more than one party persuading a few members of the other party to join it—has meant that neither party takes responsibility for the state budget. The two-thirds rule merely 'obscured responsibility and prevented political accountability.'"

Gregory Rodriguez in the Los Angeles Times discusses how to fix California's dyfunctional government.

State of Confusion

"More than half of the initiatives don’t pass, and some that do are sensible. But much of the system has been perverted into the opposite of what Hiram Johnson intended. It is not ordinary citizens but rich tycoons from Hollywood or Silicon Valley, or special interests such as unions for prison guards, teachers or nurses, that bankroll most initiatives onto the ballots.
"Then comes a barrage of television commercials, junk mail and robo-calls that leave no Californian home unmolested and the great majority confused. Propositions tend to be badly worded, with double negatives that leave some voters thinking they voted for something when they really voted against."

The Economist calls California "[t]he ungovernable state."

Maura Dolan in the Los Angeles Times reports on anger over the ease of amending the state's constitution.

Harold Meyerson in The Washington Post blames Proposition 13 for California's woes.