Waiting game

Our ballots for the California June primary have arrived -- and I'm not going to do a damn thing with mine for the next few weeks. 

It's not my usual practice to delay voting. Usually I deposit the ballot in our nearby drop box right away and sigh with relief, or at least resignation.

But given the chance that our stupid "top two" primary voting system means we could get stuck with two Republicans as the only choices for governor if they come out ahead of the gaggle of Dems running, I have to wait and probably go with the Dem who seems most likely to make the November ballot. Even if that individual is not my top choice of governor. 

The combination of the state's electorate having done away with party primaries for this dumb system and the indiscipline of the Democratic Party in throwing up so many candidates leaves me in this absurd position. Let me offer applause to Betty Yee who had the decency to pull out when her campaign didn't catch fire. Let me denounce Mat Mahan who jumped in at the last minute with a ton of billionaire money, making this mess worse. Forget that guy!

If this were a time when I could vote my true choice, I'd vote for Katie Porter. That woman is enough a policy wonk to be able to be a good governor, after a learning curve. I don't care if she is sometimes abrasive; that's often the rap on very sharp women.

But responsible citizenship may force me to vote for whichever Dem looks able to be one of the top two when we get to June. This silly election system robs me and many Californians of their chance to support their first choice of candidate for governor. That's an improvement?