June 5, 2012      5:06 PM

HK: FORGET THE WISCONSIN DUST UP, THE CALIFORNIA NON-PARTISAN PRIMARY IS MUCH MORE INTERESTING

Potentially moving the center of gravity out of inflamed, painfully one-dimensional primaries to larger turnout general elections

The single most corrupting element in modern American politics is not money --  is the replacement of the constitutionally mandated November election with the parochial, highly inflamed and extraordinarily one dimensional political primary.

Not a single self-styled, self-righteous Tea Party constitutionalist to our knowledge has ever complained that redistricting is intended to undermine the November election envisioned by the founders as our core electoral exercise. 

Whether it is Republicans in Texas or Democrats in old California, map drawers pre-determining that a district will be owned by either the GOP or the Democrats mocks the Constitution.

Once the July runoffs are over in Texas, there will probably be less than a half-dozen competitive legislative or Congressional races in Texas next November.

So while most eyes are watching what happens in the Wisconsin Scott Walker brawl later today, it is dramatically less interesting to this observer than what happens in California’s first open, non-partisan primary also held today.

Wisconsin is just a test of corporate money running an air war vs. unions and their allies running more of a ground game.  While it will have some significance in how we view the Obama-Romney battle next November, it is not nearly as interesting as the California experiment.

By Harvey Kronberg

Copyright June 05, 2012, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved