As Californians begin voting on Democratic efforts to bolster their ranks in Congress, former President Barack Obama warned that democracy is in danger, urging voters to support Proposition 50 in a television ad that began airing Tuesday.
“California, the entire nation is counting on you,” Obama said in the 30-second ad, which the main pro-Proposition 50 campaign began airing Tuesday across the state. The ad is part of a multi-million dollar ad buy to promote congressional redistricting ballot measures during the November 4 election.
Proposition 50 was spearheaded by Gov. Gavin Newsom and other California Democratic leaders this summer after President Trump urged GOP-led states, particularly Texas, to redraw their congressional districts to increase the number of Republicans elected to the House in next year’s midterm elections, in an effort to further enact his agenda during his final years in office.
“Republicans want to steal enough seats in Congress to rig the next election and enjoy unfettered power for another two years.” Obama says in the adwhich includes footage of ICE raids. “With Proposition 50, you can stop Republicans in their tracks. Proposition 50 returns our elections to a level playing field, keeps redistricting independent over the long term, and lets the people decide. Return your ballot today.”
Congressional districts have long been drawn in smoke-filled chambers by partisans focused on protecting the power of their parties and their occupants. But good governance groups and elected officials, most notably former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, have fought to take the process of drawing congressional boundaries out of the hands of politicians in order to end gerrymandering and create more competitive districts.
Obama, who has long supported ending gerrymandering, had already supported the ballot measure.
In California, those districts were drawn by an independent commission created by voters in 2010, which is why Democrats in the state are forced to go to the polls to seek partisan redistricting in the middle of the decade that could improve their party’s chances in five of the state’s 52 congressional districts.
The ad featuring Obama, who spoke Monday on comedian Marc Maron’s recent podcast about Trump’s policies testing the nation’s values, appears on Californians’ TVs after mail-in ballots were sent to the state’s 23 million registered voters last week.
The proposal’s prospects are uncertain — it concerns an obscure topic that few Californians know about, and off-year elections typically have low voter turnout. However, more than $150 million was contributed to the three main committees supporting and opposing the proposal, plus millions more to fund other efforts.
Obama isn’t the only famous person to appear in ads about Proposition 50.
In September, former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who championed the creation of an independent redistricting commission while in office and has campaigned for similar reforms across the country since, appeared in ads opposing the November ballot measure.
He described Proposition 50 as favoring established politicians rather than voters.
“This is what they want to do, is set us back. That’s why it’s important for you to vote no on Proposition 50,” the Hollywood celebrity and former governor says in the ad, which was filmed last month as he spoke to USC students. “The Constitution does not begin with ‘We the politicians.’” It starts with “We the people.” …Democracy – we have to protect it, and we have to go and fight for it.