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                                             April 29, 2009

   "Instead, though, we have a party that seems to be
   in a death spiral: the smaller it gets, the more
   it's dominated by the hard right, which makes it
   even smaller. In the long run, this is not good for
   American democracy-- we really do need two major
   parties in competition. But I'll settle for getting
   that back after we get universal health care and
   cap-and-trade."

               -- Paul Krugman, April 28, 2009
                  "The Specter of Republican Marginalization"
                  http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/04/28/the-specter-of-republican-marginalization/#comments

Competition between ideas doesn't disappear if you don't
call the competing factions "Democrats" and "Republicans".

The way it works in San Francisco is that the
Republican candidates have no hope of winning
any serious election, so no one pays any
attention to them.

   It's generally accepted that you can't get
   elected mayor of SF without "Brand D" stamped
   on your forehead.

     Which means that the Democratic Party is
     essentially The Establishment party, and
     the establishment (big business, big money)
     does their best to maintain control of it.

     It does, however, get a certain amount of
     competition from independents and a loose       For example, one year
     coalition of the left that likes to call        a Green candidate got
     itself "progressive".                           pretty close to winning.


           A complicating factor is The Board
           of Supervisors-- district representatives
           elected by local votes-- which unlike
           many cities is also a fairly strong force.

           It's easier to win these smaller races
           without piles-of-cash, so there's a                  July 10, 2013
           checks-and-balances thing going on,
           with the Mayor representing money,
           and the board representing people.

              (Though not necessarily The People.)




    What kind of sides are there?

    what sides would you like to see?

    how to improve the quality of the sides?



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