Political buzzwords to watch out for on Super Tuesday

GAVIN NEWSOM: Proposition 1 is a actually a reform of the mental health services act that incorporates those points of concern and critique. It didn’t incorporate housing didnt incorporate substance abuse... 6.38 billion dollar bond.

That was California Governor Gavin Newsom explaining California Proposition One, which seeks to create mental health treatment facilities for unhoused populations with mental health and substance use challenge.

However, despite the power of political speeches around election cycles there is a common problem many people experience when listening in: what do all these political buzzwords mean?

While there are many buzzwords being thrown around right now, the most common word in California Politics right now is the term “proposition”. A Proposition is a proposed change to a providences’ constitution or laws that is handed to voters to decide upon.

The term proposition is interchangeable with the phrase “state measure” when used in the context of state law and can be found on California ballots under the latter name.

Now for a term as inconspicuous as the subject it covers: the down-ballot vote. Down-ballot votes are political contests that are relatively low-profile compared to larger contests such as presidential, congressional, gubernatorial and mayoral elections, but often still hold vast significance.

For example, in Los Angeles we are holding a highly contentious LA county district attorney race. While this race is not as exciting as deciding the leader of the free world, the LA attorney general plays a key role in determining how the city approaches criminal prosecution, a major responsibility that could affect hundreds of people each day cycling through LA criminal courts. Certainly, a race worth voting with care on.

MARK MAXWELL: Nearly a thousand republicans packed the parkway west high school gym to measure their support for either Donald Trump or Nikki Haley. In the end, they delivered Donald Trump a resounding victory. While Nikki Halley’s backers were outnumbered, they were also outspoken.

That was NBC Local News Political Editor Mark Maxwell describing a Republican caucus event that happened in rural Missouri a few days ago. Speaking of caucuses, there will be five caucuses taking place today and ten primaries. What does that actually mean though?

Well, caucuses involve party-run gatherings, like the local gymnasium event from the NBC feature, on the county, precinct or local where political party insiders vote for which delegates they want to send to the national convention ahead of the Presidential Election. Each delegate supports one presidential candidate or the other and will vote for them to be the presidential nominee during the national convention.

Primaries, on the other hand, are run by state governments and allow all eligible voters to vote on which delegates they want to attend the party national convention. So, lets say you vote for Biden today in our California State Primary. Who you are really voting for is a Biden-linked delegate from your county or providence that will attend the Democratic National Convention and throw their support behind Biden for the party’s presidential candidate.

The main takeaways are that Primaries are much more open than caucuses are as far as who can vote, and because of this are considered more democratic. Primaries are also run by the government, compared to caucuses which are run by state parties.