I'm also glad that one lucky reader, Travis Barrick, took advantage of our promotional advertising offer. Be sure to check out his ad below! If you're interested in advertising at the special promo rate of only $50, please contact gabe@capenq.com.

Last, but not least, this issue marks the first of what will hopefully become a regular feature in CAW: the Reader Spotlight! When you're done reading today's Capitol Action, scroll down to learn all about your fellow subscriber Marc Ferreira.

Keep that feedback coming, and have a great week!

-Gabe

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But for whatever reason, California's parties have long been weak in comparison with some major states -- New York, Massachusetts and Illinois, for example -- and last week they got weaker.

A federal appeals court in San Francisco ruled that California's open, or blanket, primary law did not violate the parties' constitutional guarantee of free association, and rejected the contention of Democrats and Republicans that the open primary encouraged political mishchief by allowing people of one party to meddle in the affairs of the other.

The court's decision, which is all but certain to be challenged and carried to the U.S. Supreme Court, means that an open primary will be used in California's 2000 presidential primary -- something the parties had hoped to avoid.

Under an open primary system, voters can select candidates from any party, unlike the traditional or closed primary in which voters of one party can only choose between the candidates of their own party. The party professionals believe the "crossover" voting allowed by an open primary weakens that party's ability to communicate with its constituents, cripples its structure and interferes with its ability to field candidates.

Most California voters would probably disagree with the political professionals. The tradition in this state, either because of the pervasive infludence of television or because so many Californians appear uninterested in politics, is that voters want as wide a selection as possible -- regardless of party labels.

Party professionals, of course, are outraged: Why should a Republican voter have the right to choose the Democratic candidate? The time for that, they argue, is in the general election after the parties have chosen their candidates, but not before. Interestingly enough, the parties that spend so much time slamming each other in public joined together to attack the open primary law.

Judging by the last election, the first in which an open primary was used, there was a change from previous elections in that there was a significant amount of crossover voting. But the world didn't end, as the parties said it would, and it certainly did not have a profound impact on the final outcome of the election.

But the party pros still don't like it.

WHAT MARC DOES: Marc and his wife Donna have been actively involved in the Church of Scientology for 25 years. "It has certainly saved my life and I think my wife would say the same," says Marc. "And we use it to help others improve their lives as well." He is also a member of the Citizens Commission on Human Rights, which aims "to eliminate Human Rights abuses in the field of Mental Health." The organization is currently targeting abuse in public schools. "CCHR is educating more and more people on psychiatry's crimes in this area," says Marc.

QUOTE: "Man thought he HAD a human spirit. That is totally incorrect. Man IS a human spirit which is enwrapped more or less in a mind which is in a body." -- L. Ron Hubbard

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