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Open Primaries Good or Bad?

Open Primaries

  • Total voters
    47
X Factor said:
This just came up in another thread. I live in an open primary state (Texas). That simply means you don't register as a party member and you can vote in either the Dem or the Repub primary election (not both, of course). I think it's a good thing (although it is a little scary how many people don't understand it here and still think they're registered with a party just by voting in that primary) but I guess the argument against it is that people from the "other side" could all vote in your primary to try to get a candidate nominated that has less of a chance against the guy from that "other side".
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Open primaries are great here in Illinois.
Just this year, we Union folks almost knocked off the GOP's #1 contender for the governor, who is now favored.
I also voted for my sitting Congressman Kinzinger against a TEA-party.

I rarely vote in the DEM primary, even skipping Obama/Clinton.
Remember when Pat Buchanon got 30% in Illinois against Bush-41--yep, that was NIMBY.
 
X Factor said:
This just came up in another thread. I live in an open primary state (Texas). That simply means you don't register as a party member and you can vote in either the Dem or the Repub primary election (not both, of course). I think it's a good thing (although it is a little scary how many people don't understand it here and still think they're registered with a party just by voting in that primary) but I guess the argument against it is that people from the "other side" could all vote in your primary to try to get a candidate nominated that has less of a chance against the guy from that "other side".

What do you think?

Working on poll
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I think they're just fine. Bit me in the butt, however. I voted for Obama in the Illinois primary -- against Hillary Clinton. Oops.
 
NIMBY said:
Open primaries are great here in Illinois.
Just this year, we Union folks almost knocked off the GOP's #1 contender for the governor, who is now favored.
I also voted for my sitting Congressman Kinzinger against a TEA-party.
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You have to worry about GOP contenders at all in Illinois?

I rarely vote in the DEM primary, even skipping Obama/Clinton.
Remember when Pat Buchanon got 30% in Illinois against Bush-41--yep, that was NIMBY.
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So you really did vote early and often. I hear that is the Chicago way.
 
You may not know that the GOP was governor for 26 straight years in Illinois, 1977-2003,
and are every bit as much a party to our disastrous pension problems as the Dems are.
X Factor said:
You have to worry about GOP contenders at all in Illinois?
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Dems have just as crooked a gerry-mander in Illinois as you Repubs do in Texas.
Problem is you have 36 seats, we only have 18--and more of them are in play this time.
Yes, I support my "normal" GOP Congressman against all TEAts in this GOP district.



So you really did vote early and often. I hear that is the Chicago way.
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I live in Reagan Democrat country, between Chicago and Peoria.
You know Caterpillar from Peoria, the company your governor wants to poach with tax giveaways that hurt the little people of Texas .
 
X Factor said:
This just came up in another thread. I live in an open primary state (Texas). That simply means you don't register as a party member and you can vote in either the Dem or the Repub primary election (not both, of course). I think it's a good thing (although it is a little scary how many people don't understand it here and still think they're registered with a party just by voting in that primary) but I guess the argument against it is that people from the "other side" could all vote in your primary to try to get a candidate nominated that has less of a chance against the guy from that "other side".

What do you think?

Working on poll
Click to expand...
Ask Eric Cantor tonite, what he thinks of open primaries.:lamo
Does anyone really think that all of Brat's votes were from republicons?
 
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NIMBY said:
Dems have justy as crooked a gerry-mander in Illinois as you Repubs do in Texas.
Problem is you have 36 seats, we only have 18--and more of them are in play this time.
Yes, I support my "normal" GOP Congressman against all TEAts in this GOP district.
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But not against any Dem, of course. ;)



I live in Reagan Democrat country, between Chicago and Peoria.
You know Caterpillar from Peoria, the company your governor wants to poach with tax giveaways that hurt the little people of Texas .
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More job opportunities actually help "the little people of Texas". And yes, my governor actually wants more evil, obscene profit seeking business here. You should be glad he's trying to relieve your state of such a cancer.
 
X Factor said:
More job opportunities actually help "the little people of Texas". And yes, my governor actually wants more evil, obscene profit seeking business here. You should be glad he's trying to relieve your state of such a cancer.
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That cancer Caterpillar you speak of has now parked it's corporate headquarters off-shore, decreasing their tax burden by 50%.
Your buddy Rand Paul thinks they should be apologized to for ****ing over the American taxpayer.

As your NRA-team of Palins have said in the past,
maybe some rhetorical threats on poaching some of Perry's companies the next time he shows up .
 
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NIMBY said:
That cancer Caterpillar you speak of has now parked it's corporate headquarters off-shore, decreasing their tax burden by 50%.
Your buddy Rand Paul thinks they should be apologized to for ****ing over the American taxpayer.
As your NRA-team of Palins have said in the past, maybe some "2nd amendment" remedies on Perry the next time he shows up .
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Tell me you're not implying a threat against Ricky Perry in my thread.
 
Helix said:
good idea. i don't want to sign up for either team, but i want to vote in the primaries. my state forces me to sign up for a ****ing team to do that.
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But why should a team be obligated to give you a vote if you don't want to be part of the team?

For the record, I'm registered Green. I am not a part of either major party; the only reason I registered Green was for a mayoral primary in my city.
 
NIMBY said:
That cancer Caterpillar you speak of has now parked it's corporate headquarters off-shore, decreasing their tax burden by 50%.
Your buddy Rand Paul thinks they should be apologized to for ****ing over the American taxpayer.
As your NRA-team of Palins have said in the past, maybe some "2nd amendment" remedies on Perry the next time he shows up .
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Might want to walk that one back, dude.
 
X Factor said:
But not against any Dem, of course. ;)

More job opportunities actually help "the little people of Texas". And yes, my governor actually wants more evil, obscene profit seeking business here. You should be glad he's trying to relieve your state of such a cancer.
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Those profit opportunities in Texas come at the expense of education and public health, and come with a shoddy justice system. Let's not pretend Texas is Shangri-La.
 
Tell me that only your "team" can say "2nd amendment" remedies--the GOP and its posters.
Do you want me to say the word "rhetorical" with "2nd amendment" remedies every time I say it.
Or just get rid of the words your team made famous--so be it.
I'll go back and edit the word rhetorical in.
And every time I see one of your team do anything like this, but usually worse, I'll be knocking on your door .
X Factor said:
Tell me you're not implying a threat against Ricky Perry in my thread.
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Kobie said:
I actually think they are bad. A political party has the right to prevent non-members from choosing its candidates for office. It opens them to sabotage from opposition forces.
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We are not 'we the political parties'.
 
FreedomFromAll said:
We are not 'we the political parties'.
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There is nothing stopping anyone from starting their own political party if they don't like the Democrats, Republicans, Libertarians, Greens, Conservatives ... except for our campaign finance laws. THAT'S what needs changing. Open primaries will do nothing to alter that dichotomy.
 
NIMBY said:
Tell me that only one "team" can say "2nd amendment" remedies--the GOP and its posters.
Do you want me to say the word "rhetorical" with "2nd amendment" remedies every time I say it.
Fine, I'll try to go back and edit the word rhetorical in.
And every time I see one of your team do anything like this, but usually worse, I'll be knocking on your door .
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The GOP shouldn't be using "Second Amendment Remedies" rhetoric at all. It should be condemned at all times. We are a society, not the Wild West. And really, very few of them actually use that kind of talk.

But two wrongs do not make a right.
 
Kobie said:
Those profit opportunities in Texas come at the expense of education and public health, and come with a shoddy justice system. Let's not pretend Texas is Shangri-La.
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As someone who knows a lot of dedicated people in the Texas justice system go...ok, I can't legally finish that...use your imagination. :2razz:
 
Kobie said:
But why should a team be obligated to give you a vote if you don't want to be part of the team?
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because i'm a paying member of the country, and i should have a vote concerning who gets to **** it up next; independent of labels.

Kobie said:
For the record, I'm registered Green. I am not a part of either major party; the only reason I registered Green was for a mayoral primary in my city.
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i'm beginning to think more and more that there shouldn't even be political parties; just candidates.

**** teams.
 
X Factor said:
As someone who knows a lot of dedicated people in the Texas justice system go...
ok, I can't legally finish that...use your imagination. :2razz:
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Let's try your OP.
It's right out of the 10th amendment, the 2nd most holy amendment to you people.
This is why you support it, as a purist.
Notice some of the whiny cons on here who don't want the 10th applied when they lose .
 
NIMBY said:
Let's try your OP.
It's right out of the 10th amendment, the 2nd most holy amendment to you people.
This is why you support it, as a purist.
Notice some of the whiny cons on here who don't want the 10th applied when they lose .
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All I asked is if they're a good idea or bad. Folks (of whatever lean) are not being whiny for giving me an opinion that I asked for.
 
Helix said:
because i'm a paying member of the country, and i should have a vote concerning who gets to **** it up next; independent of labels.
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I understand that, and believe me, I'm not particularly married to this issue.

Court decisions have been largely split on the issue. The SCOTUS in 1999 ruled in favor of the California Democratic Party (which sued to have a referendum that approved open primaries to be overturned) on the basis of free association. But, there have been other rulings in favor of open primaries.

Helix said:
i'm beginning to think more and more that there shouldn't even be political parties; just candidates.

**** teams.
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IMHO, that would exacerbate some of our problems without other laws put into place. As it stands now, a party candidate can receive funding from a larger umbrella organization. If it were every man for himself, the rich guy could simply outspend the poor guy into oblivion.

Why shouldn't likeminded people be allowed to pool resources to elect a candidate they feel represents their values? That's basically what a political party is.

And yes, I feel corporations and unions should be allowed to do that as well. Disclosure, however, is necessary. Before I vote for a candidate, I want to know who owns him or her.
 
X Factor said:
As someone who knows a lot of dedicated people in the Texas justice system go...ok, I can't legally finish that...use your imagination. :2razz:
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YA GOTTA ADMIT, Texas is awful quick with Ol' Sparky. And proven wrong at a pretty alarming rate. :2razz:
 
Helix said:
because i'm a paying member of the country,
and i should have a vote concerning who gets to **** it up next; independent of labels.
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This USSC has proven to be one that will uphold practically any state's rights issue with voting.
Going back to closed primaries is a no-brainer for the GOP, and quite constitutional.

I'm still surprised that the GOP in Pennsylvania didn't go through with its electoral college scheme to divide the votes by congressional district.
There will be important VRA decisions by the Supremes that will affect this election.

i'm beginning to think more and more that there shouldn't even be political parties; just candidates. **** teams.
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I want my team to keep the Senate in November, after what I've seen the other team do since Cantor convened his team to obstruct the President.
I know the philosophy of debate doesn't call for this.
I expect Cantor to work with Dems somewhat now to get back at the TEAs .
 
X Factor said:
All I asked is if they're a good idea or bad. Folks (of whatever lean) are not being whiny for giving me an opinion that I asked for.
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If Cantor had won, we wouldn't be talking about this.
We'll be going through the same thing in two weeks if McDaniel wins in Mississippi, knocking off the six-term Cochran.
Was Mississippi open or closed--can't remember?

I believe a lot more bums will be thrown out then the "experts" think, both parties--both chambers .
 
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NIMBY said:
If Cantor had won, we wouldn't be talking about this.
We'll be going through the same thing in two weeks if McDaniel wins in Mississippi, knocking off the six-term Cochran.

Term limits only seem to apply to my team, not all of the GOP five/six/seven termers, like McConnell, McCain, and Hatch respectively.
I believe a lot more bums will be thrown out then the "experts" think, both parties--both chambers .
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I'm sure you're right and there are no long time Democrat senators and term limit laws specifically exempt Republicans.
 
My edit actually removed that 3rd line before you posted if you check.
I knew when I looked at the post it would be the line you would chomp on.
X Factor said:
I'm sure you're right and there are no long time Democrat senators and term limit laws specifically exempt Republicans.
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Was the Mississippi primary open to Democrats?
If so they can still have an affect one way or another.
We'll see in two weeks.

Besides Harry Reid, who else would you trade for on my team to get them out of the Senate?
Notice I own up to teams .
 
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