‘The republican party has ticked off millions of voters and many have registered as independents.’
That’s what happened to me. I’ve since read Sundance’s thesis that the Establishment purposefully drives people like me out of the party. According to him, the likes of McConnell and Ryan prefer a smaller GOP comprised of party-faithful than a larger GOP infested with angry, betrayed conservatives who constantly agitate against the leadership. If Sundance is right, closed primaries will serve the Establishment’s purpose, since they’ve driven so many firebrand conservatives out of the fold.
What about a primary that allows Independents but excludes Dems?
Some states have Modified Primaries: Independents voting in the primary, but no D’s.
IMHO, Sundance is very intuitive. His elaborate theories and analysis rings true. The comments posted there are well written and much more factually based than other places. It is a great source with current articles of interest.
And, Sundance is correct, as usual: GOP thrives on party faithful.
Here’s my take:
The GOP dream come true would be 100% closed caucuses. They could all pick each other and family members for delegates and elected offices. Just forget about primaries altogether and they can run their little show.
However, they’d have to pretend that the sucker-electorate has some voice so they could generate hundreds of millions of dollars in political advertising and consultant fees.
What about a primary that allows Independents but excludes Dems?
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The Texas primary system is similiar but goes one step farther. In Texas you register to vote
with the state, no party registration. On primary day you go to the polling location, present your
registration and if on the approved list the clerk then asks “which party ballot your want?” You
are bound to that party for any runoffs. At the end of the two year cycle you are issued another
voter registration card and the process starts all over. So in essence you choose which party’s
primary you want to vote in each primary season.