Free Republic

Wisconsin has a long history of open primaries that dates back to the progressive movement of Robert Lafollette in the early 1990s, when the state was up for sale in the legislature to the lumber, railroads, banking interests, and other business monopolies. It was not unusual for people to just get paid for their votes. Parties picked their candidates for the state ballot, and the real people were left out. Lafollette changed much of that. He fought for and got the open primary. All of the people were now able to vote for the candidate of their choice in the...

Thee are at least two national-level political races in 2006 where the GOP is hanging well-qualified conservative candidates out to dry. Neither of these situations have caught the attention of the national media – yet. You may remember Katherine Harris, the former Florida Secretary of State who captured the nation’s media attention during the 2000 Presidential race. You remember the recounts, hanging chads, and the battle over election certification. In 2002 Katherine Harris was elected to the House of Representatives in Florida’s 13th Congressional District, and was re-elected in 2004. Now she’s running for the U.S. Senate in Florida, and...