Electoral College Hijinks

ELECTORAL COLLEGE HIJINKS....Remember that cute little piece of skullduggery Republicans have been backing that would split California's electoral votes by congressional district instead of awarding them all to a single candidate? Long story short, California is reliably blue and a Democratic presidential candidate could normally expect to win all 55 of the state's votes. Under the new proposal they'd probably split about 35-20. Democrats would instantly lose 20 electoral votes.

So clever. So sly. So dead:

The Times' Dan Morain reports that the proposal to change the winner-take-all electoral vote allocation to one by congressional district is virtually dead with the resignation of key supporters, internal disputes and a lack of funds.

....Opposition was lead by Democratic consultant Chris Lehane who received financial backing from donors such as Stephen Bing, like Lehane a Hillary Clinton backer who saw any threat to keeping all of California's electoral votes as unacceptable.

"We want to to make sure this is not the Freddie Kruger of initiatives," Lehane said today, "that comes back to life. We'll continue to monitor it."