California law says that any voter can vote for any candidate in the primary election. A Democrat can cross over and vote for a Republican, for example, as can an independent or a Peace and Freedom voter, and vice versa. But as far as convention delegates go, this vote is misleading: The parties' rules say that the only votes that count for delegate selection are those cast by the members of that candidate's party.

That means, for example, that if you are a Democrat you can vote for Republican John McCain. But the number of delegates that California sends to the Republican convention, perhaps 16 percent of the national total, will be decided only on the basis of the Republican votes; the others won't count.

This means it is quite possible for a candidate to win the popular tally, but still lose the delegate tally -- and it is the delegate count that determines who the presidential nominees ultimately will be.

This does not please independent or decline-to-state voters, or the disaffected voters in the major parties, who want their choices to count. But that's the way it is.

The Democratic and Republican national parties, often at loggerheads, were united on this one issue. They say their respective nominees should be chosen only by delegates selected by their own party members. They are fighting this case in the courts, and the U.S. Supreme Court says it will consider the issue -- but not until after the California primary is over.

But many voters disagree with the party pros. Democracy, they argue, entails an unfettered vote. And it is hard to argue with them.

There is general agreement that moving up the primary election to March 7 -- it used to be held in June -- will give California more say in the ultimate selection of a presidential nominee. In past years, that issue often was decided before California voters went to the polls.

But the extent of that impact is uncertain. Some experts say flatly that whoever wins the primaries in California will win the parties' nominations, but that is by no means clear.

Adding to the confusion is the raw number of candidates -- nearly two dozen of them will appear on all voters' presidential ballots alone. And the delegate issue, of course, only applies to the presidential contests. The U.S. Senate, congressional and legislative races are tallied according to the popular vote.

In the end, California voters won only a symbolic victory when they rejected, at the ballot box, the notion of a closed primary. The March 7 election is "open" in the sense that all voters have an array of choices, but it remains firmly closed in most critical choice on the ballot, the choice for president.

No wonder voters are confused.

Your reference to Bob Hertzberg as "obscure" validates your reference to yourself as working full time and editing the newsletter from San Francisco.

He may be "obscure" to you, but as Chair of the powerful Rules Committee, a member of the Appropriations Committee, and a long time member of the leadership of the Assembly, he is anything but "obscure." Little has happened around the Assembly the last few years without his participation. Speaker Villaraigosa, who has, in two years, brought back collegiality to the recently strife-ridden lower house relies still and has relied heavily on Hertzberg for support and counsel. They are housemates and good friends. Hertzberg has been part and parcel of the leadership, behind the scenes and in front. He is anything but "obscure."

And Hertzberg knows the nuances and ins and outs of the Assembly as well as most who have been around a lot longer. He is smart and hard working, and well known in Los Angeles as well as Sacramento. He just got elected with an unanimous vote, the first time in my memory for a non-incumbent Speaker.

I suggest you spend less time telling us of your adventures in space and more time in Sacramento, where you may learn something about how the Legislature operates.

--Sheldon Sloan

That Mr. Hertzberg is congenial, talented and hardworking, few would doubt. Few also would doubt that he is virtually unknown beyond the confines of the Capitol and his Los Angeles district. That he is housemates with Villaraigosa is interesting but irrelevant. That he is a member of the Appropriations Committee, along with a number of others, also is no certificate of stature: How many people in the Press Corps, much less the public, can even name the members of that committee? The test of a strong speaker is the ability to collect votes and successfully push legislation -- something that Villaraigosa failed to do, for example, on MICRA. Indeed, Hertzberg became the speaker designate in part because Villaraigosa was unable to maintain the speakership while running for mayor of Los Angeles. The fact that Hertzberg had bipartisan support means little in terms of his potential clout as speaker. Jesse Unruh, Willie Brown and even Curt Pringle ruled bitterly divided houses, but few doubt their effectiveness. They had substantial legislative track records before becoming speaker. Will Hertzberg be their equal? He hasn't shown it yet.

Finally, the CAW staff, based in Sacramento, has covered the Capitol for three decades, nearly 10 times as long as Mr. Hertzberg has been lawmaker. The adjective "obscure," not a pejorative as you seem to suggest, stands.

--The CAW Staff

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