Free Republic

Two bills that could shake up presidential politics by giving California one of the earliest primaries in the nation and undercutting the Electoral College were approved Tuesday by the Assembly elections committee. The bills' author, committee chairman Tom Umberg, D-Santa Ana, said the measures were designed to increase California's clout in determining who sits in the Oval Office. "It's an effort to make California relevant again in presidential elections," he said. One of the bills would put California in competition with New Hampshire to have the earliest presidential primary elections in the nation. It would require the secretary of state...

SACRAMENTO -- For Assemblyman Simon Salinas — a moderate, middle-ground hugging Democrat — deciding how to vote on the gay marriage bill was a stark proposition. "On the one hand, the people have voted for Prop. 22; they've said that marriage is between a man and a woman," Salinas, who is considering a run for higher office, said Wednesday. "On the other, I've always been a strong supporter of civil rights. Sometimes you just have to make unpopular decision. I just figured it was time." Salinas, from the Monterey County town of the same name, was one of three lawmakers...