Posted on 06/09/2010 11:50:57 AM PDT by La Enchiladita
In case anyone missed the tea leaves scattered around the country, California’s primary results offer more evidence of voters’ dislike for political parties.
The Golden State on Tuesday passed Proposition 14, creating a so-called open primary in which any voter is allowed to cast their vote for any candidate in the primary, regardless of party affiliation. The top two vote-getters would face each other in the general election, even if they were from the same party. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger was a big backer of the change, arguing that it would push politics away from the polarized extremes and toward a centrist middle.
Skeptics say all it will really do is push party leaders into backrooms to cut secret deals selecting a single candidate, and make campaigning even more expensive. Louisiana used to have such an open primary system, and is considering returning to it.
The measure has already ended partisanship in one sense: Many Democratic and Republican leaders in the state vigorously opposed it. Proposition 14 is expected to be challenged in court.
(Excerpt) Read more at blogs.wsj.com ...
Ugh. No thanks. Time for the GOP to opt out entirely and go to a caucus system.
You do NOT want open primaries.
Open primaries are of the devil.
This means the end of minor parties and this means the end of any chance to elect any conservative as well. There will be races with 2 Democrats in November and no Republican.
Wonderful.
Calipornia is a lost cause.
Most Freepers know that open primaries are an extra burden for conservatives.
It is the brain dead indoctrinated looters who vote for this stuff. Blech!
But it would be fun to be able to vote in the Democrat primary. :)
They were already talking about this before the vote.
They’ll go to a caucus system.
Closed primaries are a must. It has to be right up there on the tea party agenda with rooting out RINOs. It’s just another facet of the same issue.
Will the last sane person leaving Kalifornia please remember to close and lock the Golden Gate, so none of the inmates can escape.......
“That’s how McCain won the primary last election.”
As I recall from 2008, the GOP Primaries were over by early February and Hillary and Obama continued to slug it out until the end of Primary Season.
It is hard to imagine the Democrats would have crossed party lines to vote in a GOP Primary when their primaries were actually contested.
This should help third parties, if they focus their resources.
If this law stands, it won’t matter if the GOP goes to a caucus system, the top two vote-getters in the “jungle primary” will be the only two candidates in the general-election ballot.
Amen. I voted against it, but most people do not understand what it is REALLY about.
Yup. Otherwise it's "Hasta la vista, Bebe," and you canjust get used to all Democrat, all the time.
All 57 million inhabitants of the State of CA have just been made f@#^ bitches for the Democrat party stooges in Sacramento.
Yes, this is the death knell, the final nail, etc.......
It doesn’t make very good sense to have the “other side” to vote and pick the candidates who are going to run against them ... LOL ...
Or would the voter be required to vote a straight party ticket, asking for either a republican or democrat party ticket??
In most cases the dem primary and the pubby primary are on different days. This allows one side to pick the weakest candidate from the other side. Just look at New Hampshire and McCain.
We have open primaries in TEXAS and they are bad news. More and more dems are crossing over and voting in our primaries to elect the candidates they want the GOP to run.
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