Frustrated political consultants often vow that they will switch from managing candidate campaigns to initiatives and referenda. Invariably, the motivation for switching goes something like this: Campaigns with candidates and their family members are a headache because human beings don't follow directions well; also, they complain and make demands. If you can just get rid of the human factors, elections might be worth the hassle.
Ah, if only things were so simple. The fact is, getting rid of the candidates doesn't make life a bed of roses. You get a whole new set of problems.
First, issue propositions are not always as interesting to voters as selecting a new governor or congressman. To make this obscurity perfectly evident, issues are typically placed at the end of a long ballot (the levers near your ankles in a voting machine) or they are relegated to entirely separate election days when only people who regularly watch C-SPAN and read legal notices are likely to be aware of the voting.
Yes, Virginia, most referendum voting takes place in a virtual vacuum. California's controversial Prop. 187 that limited services to …
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