[John Jorsett]

Are you now, or have you ever been, a ... REPUBLICAN?

[gorush]

"Voters who appear at their polling places will be asked to sign an oath swearing that “I consider myself to be a Democrat” before casting their ballots."

To whom do Democrats swear their oaths, the ghost of FDR or Karl Marx?

[ken5050]

Actually..read the fine print..voters are require to "swear, I'm a Democrat"..so they walk in to the polling place, and say..^&^^%$%($@#!@$%^*()_^$#!! I'm a Democrat"

[sirshackleton]

DUmmyland is chock-full of posters coming up with oaths and asking everyone to sign on to them....things like "I WILL USE MY FEET AND WALLET TO SUPPORT WHOEVER WINS THE NOMINATION...." They're basically pledging an oath to no one.

[primatreat]

I don't think ACLU will like this.. Is it not true that one does not have to swear allegiance to the flag. The damacraps will try anything!

[alancarp]

Swearing an oath under penalty of.... what? Or do they figure this to be a Bible Belt-like state so that the fear of judgment by God is enough? Oh, that's right: this is the Democrat Party -- God isn't permitted to take part.

[eyespysomething]

The Oath to Hitler, speech by Rudolph Hess

Background: On 25 February 1934, about a million Nazi party officials gathered at points around Germany to swear an oath to Adolf Hitler.

[looscnnn]

"the oath doesn’t bind voters in any way."

Then why have it? Kinda stupid to scare off people by making them take a non-binding oath. What would happen if they don't vote dem? How about if they go to the primary and do a write in vote for Bush?

[mewzilla]

The contest is open to all registered voters.

That says it all...

Note to the DNC: I'm a Dem and I'm voting in the NYS primary. Heh heh heh.

Jerks.

[MissAmericanPie]

I thought liberals didn't even want people to prove voter priviledge by even having to present a drivers license. I guess it all depends on what promotes their agenda, how ethical.

[mass55th]

During the Civil War, when the black troops were finally paid the same as their white counterparts, they were made to take an oath that they had never been a slave before the war began. Of course many of them had to lie to get what they had coming to them. Most went without pay for 18 months until the government corrected the pay discrepancy. Having to lie just about killed them. The Lt. Colonel of the 55th Mass. said it took him hours to get the men to take the oath because so many of them didn't want to lie. Some were even in tears over it. He said it was one of the hardest things he had ever had to do.

[GeronL]

So much for the OPEN PRIMARY

[RightthinkinAmerican]

Democrats invented "mischief making", AKA blatant vote fraud. But that's OK if it's them, I guess.

[weegee]

Aren't these the same people who oppose "loyalty oaths" for government workers?

[Doug Loss]

Can a liberal (notice I'm not saying all Democrats) swear a valid oath? Usually an oath is taken before God or on the honor of the swearer, or in some way connected to something that the oath-swearer holds dear and is unwilling to tarnish by lying. I don't think most liberals believe in God, have any honor, or are at all concerned about lying in the furtherance of their goals. Therefore, I don't think any liberal can take a valid oath.

[Cicero]

The S.C. Democrat oath: "As Karl Marx is my witness, I am a Democrat."

Alternative form: "Inasmuch as I hope to be saved by Marxism-Leninism or Maoism, I am a Democrat."

[mabelkitty]

No Constitutions protection for political parties - failure to abide by the Constitutional protections for all to be able to vote will violate civil rights.

I dare them to stop someone for voting simply because they don't want to "declare" themselves or "provide the proper papers".

[PLOM...NOT!]

The purpose is to deter Republicans from voting in the contest to create mischief.

Can you say John McCain and the 2000 primaries?

[quadrant]

This requirement needs to be seen for what it is: an act of desperation by a marginal group.
The Democratic Party of South Carolina has been going down-
hill since the late 1960's, its existence sustained by little more than inertia and history.

Once it was not this way. Its hard to believe now but South Carolina voters strongly supported FDR, and the Democratic Party dominated the state.
The civil rights movement had a lot to do with driving white voters out of the Democratic Party, but civil rights was not the only force that propelled the Republican Party to power.

More than all others, cultural issues drove away moderate and conservative white people.
The war in Vietnam enjoyed strong support in the state, even during the Nixon years.
When abortion on demand became a tenet of Democratic ideology, whites left the Party in droves.
Now, gay marriage appears to be the force that will drive away those white people who remain.
One cannot but wonder if the Democrats whose ideas set the tone for their party have any idea the effect those ideas have outside their own circle.

Now, Democatic candidates are trying to use the economy as a wedge issue. It may succeed (at least, somewhat)for the state has been hit hard by the loss of manufacturing jobs.
And there is a Populist history in South Carolina. One of the greatest of the populists, Pitchfork Ben Tillman, rode to power on the backs of resentful farmers who were hard-
pressed by low prices for crops.

However, 2004 is not 1890 (the year Tillman was first elected governor) and the state has changed. The Democrats have changed too. Now, they are at the margins of power and reduced to requiring silly and self-defeating loyalty oaths.

[samanella]

So what will happen if one says (with fingers crossed) "I am a Democrap?" Will you be tarred and feathered if they find out differently? Will you get on mailing lists (I hope so, so I can tell the Dems exactly what I think of them)? Will the long arm of the law pistol whip you? What are the real consequences if you lie to them?