Joe Mathews, Journalist

Taking the Ink Out of Signatures

2010-03-03T15:41:00.001-08:00

Here's my piece in the Los Angeles Times on the (electronic) signature that could change American politics forever.

Arnold and Hummer

2010-03-03T15:40:00.000-08:00

Here's my piece from the Feb. 28 Washington Post on the demise of the Hummer brand, and how the current governor of California played a role in creating Hummer--and undermining it.

Radio Appearances

2010-03-03T15:35:00.001-08:00

I was on KOGO-AM (San Diego)'s "Top Story With Chris Reed on Feb. 12 (at 6 p.m.) and Jan. 11 (at 7 p.m.). The podcasts are available here.

Here's a link to my interview on KPBS radio in San Diego on the Prop 8 trial.

I also appeared Jan. 14 on Brendan Huffman's LA Talk Radio show "Off the Presses with Brendan Huffman".

Recent Fox & Hounds Columns

2010-03-03T15:29:00.000-08:00

Here are a few highlights from my January and February columns at Fox & Hounds Daily, a web site that covers California business and politics.

-"Is None of the Above the Smart Choice in Governor's Race?", Feb. 26.
-"Not the End of the Line for Con Con," Feb. 17.
-"Jerry, Meg and Confucius," Feb. 13.
"My Interview With Whiskey and Bacon," Jan. 13.

Other recent Fox & Hounds columns are here.

Daily Beast Columns

2010-03-02T20:44:00.001-08:00

Here are my two most recent columns in the Daily Beast.

-"Meg Whitman's Hiding Game," explaining how opponents of the California gubernatorial candidate, by criticizing so harshly for failing to debate and to answer journalists' questions, are actually helping her campaign.

-"How Obama Lost Arnold," explaining why Gov. Schwarzenegger, a supporter of health care reform, took a blast at the Senate version of the legislation in his January state of the state.

Recent Quotes

2010-03-02T20:42:00.001-08:00

I've been quoted in various publications on various California-related subjects recently.

- in Time magazine on "How the Initiative Culture Broke California," March 1.
- "Constitutional Convention Effort Near Collapse," in Ventura County Star, Feb. 10.
-"Brown's Tenure as Attorney General: Play it Safe," in the Associated Press.
-"Little Known Law is Blocking Path To Brown's Papers," in Contra Costa County times.
-"Another Long Budget Battle Expected," in Sacramento Bee, Jan. 19.
-"Feinstein, Boxer Lash Out at Governor's Demands," in San Francisco Chronicle, Jan. 10.

Get Your Act Together, California

2010-03-02T20:40:00.001-08:00

CaliforniaChoices.org -- a new effort by Next Ten, Stanford's Lane Center, UC Berkeley's Institute for Government Studies, and Cal State Sacramento's California studies program to look for "pathways" to reform in California -- has launched. I made this short contribution to the new blog there.

Please Join Me; Feb. 22 in Sacramento for Free Lunch Event on Initiative Process

2010-02-13T21:41:00.001-08:00

The New America event, "What Does California's Initiative Process Mean for the World?" takes place at noon at the CSAC Conference Center, 1020 11th Street, 2nd floor. It's free -- and lunch will be provided.

You can reserve yourself a seat here. And an event description follows. If you're not in Sacramento that day, please check out the web cast at newamerica.net

California is hardly the only place where voters, through initiative and referendum, make important decisions about government. As the state struggles with persistent budgetary and political problems, the world has been watching, with a combination of wonder and horror. What do direct democrats around the world think as they look at California? What might California learn from the world about its direct democratic system? And what might the rest of the world learn from us?

Please join one of California's most successful and experienced political strategists and one of the world's foremost experts on initiative and referendum as they exchange questions and answers during a special forum on how California's initiative process fits into the world.

Gale Kaufman of Kaufman Campaign Consultants, a veteran of some of the state's most important initiative campaigns who was once described by activist-actor Warren Beatty as "silver-tongued," will assess the past, present and future of California's initiative process. How has it changed? What are its strengths? What are its weaknesses?

Bruno Kaufmann, president of the Initiative & Referendum Europe and co-organizer of a major global forum on direct democracy this summer in San Francisco, will talk about California's role as inspiration - and albatross -- for a global expansion of direct democracy that has reached more than 100 countries.

Please join Kaufman, Kaufmann, and New America's own Joe Mathews, as moderator, for a wide-ranging conversation extending from the current debate over California constitutional reform to a new transnational initiative process being devised by the European Union to the growth of direct democracy in Asia, where Kaufmann recently completed a six-month tour.

Register Now for 2010 Global Forum on Modern Direct Democracy

2010-01-15T09:38:00.001-08:00

I'm volunteering my time to host and organize the 2010 Global Forum on Modern Direct Democracy, July 31-Aug. 4 in San Francisco. We're inviting anyone with interest or experience in direct democracy -- journalists, academics, activists, elected officials, political pros -- to the event. It's free and open to the public, but we're asking people to pay their own travel and lodging costs. For those who can't afford those costs, we're raising money to help subsidize them.

The forms, including an invitation and registration, are available on a PDF attached right here:
GlobalForum_Registration_final.pdf

On the Prop 8 Trial

2010-01-14T15:00:00.000-08:00

I visited San Francisco this week and stopped in to watch some of the trial in a federal legal challenge to the constitutionality of Prop 8, the initiative that banned same-sex marriage in California.

Here's a link to my appearance on KPBS, San Diego's NPR affiliate, to talk about the trial.

And here's my column in Fox & Hounds Daily on the same subject.

Politico Chat On Arnold and California

2010-01-14T13:43:00.000-08:00

Here's a link to my live chat Tuesday at Politico's Arena on California's troubles and Gov. Schwarzenegger's efforts to get more money from Washington.

Blockbuster Democracy Has a New URL

2010-01-04T16:27:00.000-08:00

My blog on direct democracy, called Blockbuster Democracy, has a new URL over at the New America web site. http://blockbusterdemocracy.newamerica.net/blogmain

Arnold vs. Sarah

2010-01-04T16:26:00.001-08:00

My Daily Beast column on a media argument between Sarah Palin and Gov. Schwarzenegger drew huge traffic and hundreds of comments. Check it out here.

Californian of the Year, 2009

2010-01-04T16:20:00.001-08:00

In this Fox & Hounds column, I nominated Jim Wunderman of the Bay Area Council, who has led the effort to call a constitutional convention in the state. Ultimately, Fox & Hounds went with State Sen. Abel Maldonado (R-Santa Maria) as its consensus choice.

In other year end news, please check out "My 8 Worst Predictions of 2009."

New Book: Global Citizens in Charge

2010-01-03T21:22:00.000-08:00

I'm honored to have contributed a chapter to a new book, Global Citizens in Charge, which offers a survey of direct democracy around the world. It's published by the Initiative & Referendum Institute Europe and the Korea Democracy Foundation, both of which are big players in the 2010 Global Forum on Modern Direct Democracy, which I'm organizing for next summer (July 31- Aug. 4, 2010) in San Francisco.

You can download the book, for free, here. And you can learn more about the global forum here.

California Office Pool 2010

2009-12-15T17:39:00.000-08:00

What will be the major news events in California next year? Reviving a tradition of the late William Safire, I offer a multiple-choice office pool for your 2010 predictions here at Fox & Hounds Daily.

On Radio Tonight, Talking Reapportionment

2009-12-15T17:29:00.000-08:00

I'm scheduled to be on "Which Way, LA?" tonight with Warren Olney at 7 p.m., to talk about the formation of a new commission to draw legislative districts in California.

Has Recession Made California Voters Less Green?

2009-12-09T08:35:00.000-08:00

Not exactly. But polling trends suggest voters are much more interested in economic repair than anything else -- and may be open to the political argument, advanced strongly by Meg Whitman (and less so by Carly Fiorina), that new regulations and legislation to fix climate change should be delayed until the economy has recovered.

I explain more in this piece in The Daily Beast.

Recent Fox & Hounds Columns

2009-12-08T22:16:00.001-08:00

Here's the up-to-date list of my latest columns at Fox & Hounds Daily. Among the highlights:

-'The Default of Walters and Skelton' Dec. 7.
-Why the Media Should Back Anti-ACORN Activists, Dec. 3.
-The Mac Taylor Rule, Nov. 23.
-Maldonado and the Murphy Memo, Dec. 1
-Shocked, Shocked to Find Taping in the AG's Office, Nov. 16.

Open Those Records, Jerry Brown (and Former Governors)

2009-12-08T22:11:00.000-08:00

In the process of researching a book about California government and a magazine profile of Jerry Brown, I learned an astonishing thing: state law permits former governors to control who has access to records of their governorship for 50 years or until death, whichever is later.

It's outrageous (and out of step with federal law, which gives ex-presidents control only for 12 years). How did this happen? I explain in this piece in the Los Angeles Times.

I also discussed the issue on Warren Olney's show, "Which Way, LA?" (About 8 minutes at the end of the show). And Reason magazine's web site picks up the issue.

Redistricting Commission Quiz

2009-12-08T22:09:00.000-08:00

What disqualifies you from being on the commission to draw new legislative districts line in California? I explain here.

On the Radio

2009-12-08T22:06:00.000-08:00

I appeared twice in November on Chris Reed's San Diego radio show, "Top Story," on KOGO 600 AM. You can find the audio here. (First appearance was on Nov. 12 at 6:35 p.m.; second appearance was on Nov. 27 at 7:05 p.m.).

Off the Presses

2009-12-08T22:04:00.001-08:00

I was a guest on the debut of Brendan Huffman's new show, Off the Presses. You can listen here. (My appearance was Nov .12).

Reading the Secret Brown Transcripts

2009-12-08T22:02:00.001-08:00

My quick reading of the Jerry Brown transcripts via Fox & Hounds Daily.

Me for Lt. Gov.

2009-11-05T21:43:00.000-08:00

Gov. Schwarzenegger has to pick a lieutenant governor soon. The job is famous for having very few duties. In the LA Times, I report that I've found the perfect person for this no-show gig: me.