An Anti-Initiative Ad Campaign

At Soapblox, I was asked by ubikibu:

[H]ow do you make the necessarily subtle point to the general public that Colorado has made it far too easy to introduce ballot measures, and that it has led to some hasty intiatives that would likely have been handled more intelligently by our elected Reps?

It's like making an argument against "democracy." More voting = good, right? Well, not always. I'm just not sure how we could ever slow or reverse this trend.

I think it can be done. If Republican PR guys can come up with ads that convince people that universal health care is bad, and that John Kerry isn't a war hero, it should be far easier to produce an ad that supports a genuinely good idea honestly.

I see a TV spot opening up with mock ups of Doug Bruce and his co-sponsor (or perhaps even an animated Beavus and Butthead) sitting at the only seats filled in the Capitol on the House Floor, and their lawyer acting as Speaker of the House conducting mock debate. A caption reads -- initiatives are drafted by a couple of people in private who are accountable to no one but themselves.

Then, you cut to the doors in, galleries, and committee halls with signs say "Buzz off." The caption reads "No representatives of the public can insist on amendments to improve proposals that have the right general idea, in the legislature, 90% of bills receive some amendments before final passage."

Then, you cut to a the full text of the longest initiative introduced in the last couple of years, slowly scrolling down the page with a narrator reading the legalise. Caption reads: Most voters didn't know TABOR would cap college tuition. Most voters didn't know immigration 55 stopped by the Colorado Supreme Court would have rolled back property rights in Colorado's constitution. Etc.

Then, scoll a long list of initiative proposals, highlighting the really stupid sounding ones. Narration: Do you want Democracy with laws written by special interests who are accountable to no one and decisions made by soundbite, or do you want laws written with wide input from people elected to represent you and carefully examined before a final vote.

It could work.