Posted on 01/16/2011 9:31:34 PM PST by Sun
Shouldn't REPUBLICANS pick the REPUBLICAN candidate in the REPUBLICAN primaries?
Do we want Dems and Independents picking our candidate for us?
That's how McCain won, I believe. He won the Open Primary in the early primary voting states, which gave him momentum.
So how can we change this?
Add to that other states, like here in Iowa for the caucuses, allow you to switch registration THAT DAY as you walk in the door and then switch back.
The registration window should close at least 10 days before a caucus or primary.
“like here in Iowa for the caucuses, allow you to switch registration THAT DAY as you walk in the door and then switch back.”
Terrible. That makes it so much worse!
Sad when the voters of an opposing party have the chance to pick a weak GOP candidate so THEIR candidate can win.
As anyone ever seen any studies or verifiable numbers of how many voters actually cross over and vote for the “other” party? I’m curious how often it occurs.
No.
“As anyone ever seen any studies or verifiable numbers of how many voters actually cross over and vote for the “other” party? I’m curious how often it occurs.”
I’d like to see a link on that, too.
Rush Limbaugh seemed to think it made a difference, judging from his tit for tat operation.
“No.”
I don’t either.
But do you have a friend who resides in an Open Primary state, and would be willing to do their part to get the law changed?
Closed primaries, something Florida does right. I don’t understand the point of open primaries at all, and they should’ve been dispensed with long before now. Also, caucases should not be allowed. Is there anything more likely to invite chaos in choosing a candidate than those travesties of “democracy”?
Aargh, caucuses, not caucases.
That I do, but it is mostly the earliest primaries that we need to worry about, and I don’t have friends in those states.
All it does is attract trouble makers who want to muddy up the elections.
Why should voters register and DONATE to a particular party, if NONRepublicans (or NONDems) have the same input?
“but it is mostly the earliest primaries that we need to worry about,”
I agree. Early momentum can be HUGE.
Excellent point.
Not sure if you are going to find much evidence of Democrats voting in GOP primaries as the Democratic race in 2008 was more highly contested and in many of those states had a turnout which much much greater than the GOP primary.
For example, South Carolina, which has an Open Primary had 532,000 people vote in the Democratic Primary and 445,000 vote in the Republican Primary.
Iowa has closed caucuses, but the voter may change their party affiliation at the polls on day of the caucus.
The Iowa Democratic Caucus drew 239,000 participants while the GOP Iowa Caucus had only 119,000 participants.
The same trend was seen throughout the Primary season as more people participated in the Democratic primary process than the Republican.
While there may have been some Democrats that participated in the GOP nomination process, there is no evidence to suggest that it had any significant impact on the GOP nominating process.
“As anyone ever seen any studies or verifiable numbers of how many voters actually cross over and vote for the “other” party? I’m curious how often it occurs?”
No, but across the board there were more people voting in the Dem Primaries than the GOP Primaries.
If there were significant numbers of Democrats voting in the GOP Primary you would have seen depressed turnout in Dem Primaries and increased turnout in GOP Primaries.
Hey, I’ve crossed over in Texas for years, and I like it that way. I don’t want to be tied to any political party.
Only rule here is that you can’t vote in a primary runoff if you voted in the other party’s primary.
I go where the action is and where my vote can do the most good.
Leave it be.
But swing voters often pick the winners in various elections, because they are the deciding factor. You don’t need that many of them, so there’s no way of telling for sure if they made a difference.
But bottom line: Republicans should pick Republicans.
You have a right to not want to be tied to any political party, but why should you have a SAY in a party’s candidate if you don’t want to join a particular party.
“States with Open Primaries
•Seventeen states use an open party primary system, including Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, North Dakota, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Virginia and Wisconsin. Of these states, Hawaii, Minnesota and North Dakota conduct open caucus elections.”
Read more: Which States Use an Open Primary Election? | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/list_6098671_states-use-open-primary-election_.html#ixzz1BGv3uVYE
“But swing voters often pick the winners in various elections.”
No. Swing voters pick the winner in every election.
As for your premise that Democrats crossed party lines to vote in GOP Primaries, you will need to show us one contested 2008 GOP Primary state where there was a historical shift of number of primary voters from the Democratic Primary to the GOP Primary.
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