Posted on 08/22/2009 11:45:50 AM PDT by SmithL
California Republican Party leaders, in a move that could reshape state primary-election politics, are preparing a move to bar decline-to-state voters - now 20 percent of the electorate - from casting a GOP ballot in statewide and legislative primaries.
The proposed bylaw to the state Republican platform, which delegates will decide at the party convention next month in Indian Wells (Riverside County), has riled some business leaders and Republicans.
They say it could be disastrous for the party's future and could relegate Republicans in the state to "permanent minority" status by keeping independent voters from supporting Republicans in primary elections.
Flashreport.org publisher Jon Fleischman, the Southern California state party vice chair, said his proposal, which would take effect in 2010, would strengthen the GOP. It calls for extending a ban on independent voters in presidential primaries to all statewide elections, including the gubernatorial and U.S. Senate races.
It "makes it clear that if you are a Republican, you're eligible to vote in the primary," he said. "We think we have great candidates - but it's not the role of someone who's not in the party to have a say in who that party puts forward."
But the plan is causing a stir among some business leaders and GOP insiders.
"We think this is the worst thing (the party) could ever do," said Rob Lapsley, spokesman for the California Chamber of Commerce. "Republicans ... need every vote they can possibly get from independents."
California Democrats who have welcomed independent voters in their primaries have benefited, Lapsley said, because those voters tend to stay with the party in general elections.
The GOP plan allows conservative party insiders to shape critical 2010 races, said strategist Patrick Dorinson. "They want to pull up the ladder to the tree house where they play,"...
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
Are democrats now in charge of the California GOP or is it just the idiot RINOs again.
Are democrats now in charge of the California GOP or is it just the idiot RINOs again.
Maybe they are just trying to save on postage.(/S)
About effing time... now.. let’s send that message to Iowa, New Hampshire, etc. NO OPEN PRIMARIES.
Dem Crossovers and Independents is what gave us McLAME... the first REAL GOP Primary (where only GOP’s can vote)is South Carolina.
Which is why our candidates have been going steadily downhill.
Independents are the folks that gave us McPain.
Independents are the wishy-washy 30% that curbs conservatism.
Exactly. The Dems got us Juan Pedro McLame the former Navy man who went AWOL.
Exactly. It's a system that all but guarantees RINO nominees. CA would be wise to be done with it.
McCain won South Carolina though.
**McCain won South Carolina though.**
by then the momentum had already be set up by the LIBS, RINOS, and the Weenie Independents.
And NOBAMMY won the election... no accounting for intelligence there, either.
In which state primaries do you believe that Democrats crossed party lines to vote in the GOP primary for McCain?
I hope the GOP in each state adopts this. There should be no open primaries. We don’t need democrats and independents choosing our candidates for us. Granted they can still switch parties just to vote in the primary but most won’t.
After the great success of Rush's "Operation Chaos," I am not sure of why you would say such a thing.
In which states do you KNOW that they didn't? Do you think Operation Chaos where republicans crossed over to vote for Hillary wasn't emulated by the dems in a like action? Not only that, independents vote in republican primaries and they are middle of the road, voting for RINOs most of the time. So, what benefit would there possibly be for either party to have an open primary? None is the answer. Want to vote republican? Then be one.
To quote a MARGINAL american ,BARNEY FRANK ... “What PLANET to you spend most of your time on?”
MOVEON.dumass had INSTRUCTIONS on how to crossover IOWA, New HAMPSHIRE, and the OTHER TWO between NH and SC.
and the DHUMMIES did the same thing for KALIFORNIYA... they tried to do it in NY too, but only ACORNS can cross over.. Closed primary
HEY HEY CALEX .... the ORDERLIES Returned your phone priviledges???
Take your meds and you get rewarded.
McCain became the presumptive Rep presidential nominee with just 31% of the primary vote thanks to open primaries and winner take all rules. At least some of the Reps in CA are showing some common sense. We need real Reps as the nominees, not the RINOs chosen by independents and Dem crossovers.
The Democratic Primaries were competitive for much longer than the GOP Primaries and with the polarization between the Obama and Clinton supporters, I doubt that many Dem voters gave up their chance to voter for their candidate.
Operation CHAOS was PAYBACK for the LIBS CRossing lines to vote for McLAME .. OC didn’t start until the dems were down to their final two.
DAMN THESE LIBERALS ARE STUPID.. you don’t know REVENGE when you see it.??
Excellent move. The party has gone nowhere but down the toilet with the way things are now. What "base" Republicans would want to go out and vote for Scumbag-lite?
This seems like a good idea. Open primaries gave us McCain remember. The dems and indies crossed over to sway our frontrunner long before Rush started his campaign to cross over and push Hillary out. I think it you are a “independent” voter than stay of of party politics and just show up on election day and show how “independent” you are. These indies are usually liberals who are too embarassed to publicly support a dem or someone seeking attention. This country’s past success is becasue we run on a two-party system not a parliamentary system where minority parties group together in back door deals to form the government. It isn’t going to change until our politicians embrace the Constitution again and what it stands for and leave the Supreme Court out of law making instead of interpreting the Constitution as written. We have too many lawyers in government and Congress who skirt the Constitution every day.
McCain was the only top tier candidate of either party who didn't win his/her home state by 50% or more. McCain won in AZ with 47% of the vote.
No, The only thing Operation Chaos did was to keep Obama in the headlines for four extra months while McCain who had already secured the GOP nomination was at home in Arizona.
Again with the heated Dem Primary, it is hard to imagine that Democrats would have crossed party lines and forfeited their chance to either voter for Hillary or Obama.
The way to remedy both problems is to restrict primaries to Republicans. That way the RINO patrician countryclubbers will not be able to bring their lefty buddies in to nominate candidates who are "palatable" to the left... candidates the leftists have no intention to vote for in the general election anyway.
I followed the McCain campaign for four days each in SC and FL protesting his stance on immigration. After attending over a dozen of his campaign events, it was painfully obvious that he was going to get his clock cleaned. McCain has always run on his resume, not on his position on the issues. He was a dead man walking. Obama would probably have won against any Rep candidate, but McCain was the absolute worse person we could have nominated. The Reps lost some major issues such as cap and trade, immigration, drilling in ANWR, etc. because McCain and Obama held essentially the same positions. We were offered an echo, not a choice.
Yes, the real presidential election of 2008 was in the Democratic Primary and whoever won that, Obama of Clinton was going to win in November, no matter who the GOP would have nominated.
That being the case, McCain was the best person to sacrifice as if it would have been anyone else, Romney or Thompson would have exited 2008 as damaged goods.
Bingo!. No more dilution of conservative principles. The RINOs and “independents” gave us McCain and the country got Obama.
McCain damaged the party. We are still dealing with what he left in his wake.
This was the case in the 2008 primary. I was registered “decline to state” and couldn’t vote in the GOP primary.
>Romney or Thompson would have exited 2008 as damaged goods.
Which is exactly what happened.
**The RINOs and “independents” gave us McCain and the country got Obama.**
the thing that bothered me the most was McLAME’s constant... “We’re Republicans and we’re ABOVE such things.”
so every campaign tactic was vetoed by McLAME ...
the LIBS are campaigning like it’s a WAR... we have to, also, or guaranteed another 4 years as a LOSER... no thanks.
He’s a fool. You are right on spot, this is war. Just see how ACORN, SEIU, the auto union thugs, NARAL, GLAAD, and the Hollywood trash, and the MSM whip the hell out of anyone they find remote conservative.
Only for GOP members? Hmmmmm....Mittens must be pissed.
and the libbies too :)
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