California's top 2012 political stories
10:00 PM, Dec 28, 2012 | 0 comments
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When it comes to making a list of big political stories, 2012 offered an embarrassment of riches in the Golden State.
Big electoral stakes. Important policy debates. A boatload of cash spent on campaigns large and small.
So without further ado, the stories that stand out as the biggest stars of the year.
10. Money, Money, Money: Final numbers aren't in, and even when they are it may be hard to truly put an official stamp on all of the cash spent on California politics in 2012. But a number of observers now believe that the final tally is probably going to be north of a mind-boggling $500 million. That's enough cash to run state government for more than three years.
The notion that a record breaking campaign cash season would be news is, well, naïve. Every year, political campaigns spend more and more money - advertisements, polling, advisers, and more always cost cash. California's big bucks bonanza was driven by a number of factors, some of them probably unique to 2012. The changing election rules