For once, I agree with the McKinneys

Madison County Journal(Georgia) | 10/9/02 | Frank Gillespie

[CFW]

Frankly Speaking

For once, I agree with the McKinneys

We Southern ladies and gentlemen are required to look for areas of agreement with those whom we disagree. That is one of the meanings of “love your enemies.”

Therefore, it is with great pleasure that I announce that I agree with Rep. McKinney’s latest statements. The McKinneys, father and daughter, have soundly criticized Georgia’s political system that allowed Republicans to vote in the Democratic Primary. It was this crossover voting that helped remove them from office.

Now don’t get me wrong. I am thrilled that they have been eliminated from the state and national legislatures. The McKinneys have been a source of embarrassment for Georgia for many years, and we are much better off without them. But when they are right, we need to acknowledge their correctness.

Any political party is a private organization. Each party has its own bylaws that determines who is eligible for membership. They exist for the purpose of influencing political opinion and electing people who reflect their opinions.

As a private organization, each party should have the right to determine eligibility for membership. It should have the right to choose those candidates it wishes to support. This process should be free of outside interference.

But in Georgia, the two major parties have been rolled into the state’s election and governing process. In other words, the Democrats and Republicans are no longer private, independent political bodies. They are now part of the state government. State law requires that taxpayers support the party primaries. State rules determine who can vote in those primaries, and who is eligible to run for office. That is wrong for two reasons.

First, the two major parties are no longer private organizations. They have lost their independence. They can’t even determine their own membership.

Second, the system shuts out any other political organization from any chance of electing their candidates. It is virtually impossible for anyone who is not a member of one of the two major parties to be elected. In most cases, minor party and independent candidates cannot even get on the ballot!.

This year, the two best organized minor parties, the Libertarians and the Greens, attempted to place numerous candidates on the ballot. A tiny percentage of them were successful. Most were shut out by Georgia’s ballot restrictions. In many cases, we go into the November elections with only one candidate on the ballot. In many cases, Libertarian or Green candidates tried to gain ballot access and were denied. In these cases “We the people” are left with no choice.

Billie McKinney is right. The Republicans should not have been allowed to vote against him or his daughter in the Democratic primary. Nor should Democrats have been allowed to vote against Bob Barr in the Republican primary.

I now have found a point of agreement with the McKinneys. I feel better about that. Now, I can start looking for some way to agree with Barbara Streisand. Boy, that will be hard to do!

Frank Gillispie is founder of The Madison County Journal. His web page can be accessed at www.mcga.net. His e-mail address is frankg@mcga.net.

[CFW]

Now, here is an interesting viewpoint!

[CFW]

Here is the link

[Inyokern]

Republicans beat McKinney? I thought it was J-E-W-S.

[Trailerpark Badass]

He's correct, of course. But this system has been allowed to stand by the Democrat-controlled GA Legislature and used for the benefit of the GA Democratic Party. The hypocrisy is remarkable. I can't seem to muster any tears for poor Cynthia.

[#3Fan]

I agree. Dems shouldn't pick the Republicans in primaries either.

[ThreeYearLurker]

McKinney would have lost in a landslide, even without any Republican crossover votes.

[#3Fan]

But since that is the system then we have to do what we have to do. You don't take a knife to a gunfight.

[Shermy]

"Republicans beat McKinney? I thought it was J-E-W-S."

No, it was the I-N-D-I-A-N-S.

[mhking]

The McKinneys are idiots. They get to use the system that the Dems set up and have had in Georgia for decades, and when it backfires on them this one time, now all of a sudden they wanna change the rules? Screw 'em.

[rdb3]

No, it was the I-N-D-I-A-N-S.

Hey, Cynthia! It wasn't the Tribe! They didn't even make the playoffs this year.

Oh, those Indians...

[Mo1]

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[TheHound]

I sort of agree, this system was put in place where dems ran every thing and was used to put the weakest republican up. they had only one guy running. Now when they are getting weaker, it's waaaa, waaaa, waaaa. Can you say motor voter, wait till most motor voters register republican.

[#3Fan]

True.

[MortMan]

Nope, not the J-E-W-S... It was the L-E-W-S!!!

(Kudos to whoever first coined that one:-)

[HHFi]

Absolutely correct! Funny how open primaries are a great boon to democracy when Democrats are voting in GOP primaries to defeat Bob Barr or help McCain damage Bush, but as soon as Republicans pull the exact same stunt on them, it suddenly becomes a travesty of justice, boo-hoo-hoo! But then, I've noticed Democrats maintain a rather flagrant double standard about a whoooooooooole lot of things. Such as, "Felony perjury while in office isn't enough reason to keep Clinton from being president, but Bush getting a traffic ticket 30 years ago is."

[Nat Turner]

"The McKinneys are idiots. They get to use the system that the Dems set up and have had in Georgia for decades, and when it backfires on them this one time, now all of a sudden they wanna change the rules? Screw 'em"

Bump

[derlauerer]

He's correct, of course.

I don't think he is. Voters should be allowed to vote for whom they please, both in primaries and in general elections. If a candidate fears the votes of those who disagree with him/her, the answer is plain: persuade those voters to change their minds.

I have no problem whatever with crossover voting, regardless of the identity or affiliation of its victims. (As long as the ballots themselves are cast lawfully, of course).

[GPBurdell]

I completely disagree with this article. First of all, Republicans did not oust McKinney, and Democrats did not defeat Bob Barr. The crossover vote was not great enought in either race to do anything other than provide icing on the cake!

Why shouldn't people be free to vote for whomever they wish? If you're a Republican who lives in a heavily Democrat area like McKinney's old district, why should you be denied the right to make your views known?

Look at the States that register people by party and you'll see that the number of people calling themselves Republicans or Democrats is shrinking and the number of people calling themselves "independents" is growing. Many people these days want to be called "moderates" so the end result is that fewer and fewer people will be picking their representative - especially in "safe" districts like the Georgia 4th.

Buzz