Is voting in a Republican Primary Unethical????

[Laura PourMeADrink]

I say, hell no, they did it to us in the 2008 Dem primary.

The way I see it, a T-bagger will win Iowa (closed caucus)

But New Hampshire is a state where we could have a major impact if we were
truly organized and got the word out. Romney thinks he's got NH in the bag.

The New Hampshire Primary is scheduled for January 24th. It is open!

New Hampshire Dems could all vote for the wingnut that wins Iowa !

The South Carolina Primary is schedule for January 28th. It is currently open..but get
this ! The Reps want to close their primaries, but a U.S. District Court judge ruled that they cannot do that and must resort to a convention or caucus if they want to keep out independent voters, who currently may pick a party on Election Day. As of May 31, 2011, the GOP had asked the judge to reconsider.

SEE, they are thinking one step ahead.

2012 Primary Schedule:
http://www.2012presidentialelectionnews.com/2012-republican-primary-schedule/

Open/Closed Primary States:
http://www.fairvote.org/open-and-closed-primaries

[gateley]

1. I'd do it in a minute. Ethics were thrown out the window

by those assholes long ago, so I'm fine playing by their rules in this instance.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

2. You're still from Washington? I just pulled this up and you

are not having a primary? WTF?

http://www.katu.com/news/local/121739934.html
OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) - Washington state has canceled its 2012 presidential primary.

Gov. Chris Gregoire approved a bill Thursday to skip the primary after state leaders agreed that it would be better to save the $10 million it costs to manage the vote. Democrats and Republicans in the state typically rely on caucuses, not the primary, to choose candidates and allocate delegates for their national conventions.

Secretary of State Sam Reed prefers the primary system over caucuses because it draws more participation. But the Republican supports suspending the 2012 presidential vote as a one-time way to save money as lawmakers try to deal with a $5 billion shortfall in the coming budget cycle.

The state will still hold its top-two primary in August for other 2012 races.

[gateley]

15. What do you mean, WTF? I voted by mail 2 days after I got my ballot!

Are you questioning me or making some statement about my response? That wasn't the question of the OP. I don't understand your intention of posting this. I REALLY don't understand the WTF.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

21. Whoa....no, not questionning you, of course not. I saw

on your profile you were from Washington and I looked on the primary list and it showed no primary there. So I googled
and found this article that the primaries in Washington were canceled? that was the snippet I posted in the reply.

[gateley]

27. Wow, I'm really sorry for jumping down your throat --

I'm super jumpy and over-sensitive on DU these days and have gotten so many snarky put-downs I assume almost every response is negative.

I'm really, really sorry! :hug:

[Laura PourMeADrink]

33. No problem, girl. I get the same. Is it really true that WA will not

have a primary? How will that work? No delegates at the convention?

[ChairmanAgnostic]

3. not if it is an open primary.

Every vote for Rickie Santorum is a victory, of sorts.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

4. Last New Hampshire Rep Poll - Ricky didn't even make cut. nt

Polling Data - RCP Average 6/14 to 7/5

Romney...34.5
Bach...12.8
Paul...8.5
Palin...6.3
Rudy...6.0
Perry...4.3
Pawl...4.0
Hunts...3.8
Cain...3.8
Gingrich...2.5

[ChairmanAgnostic]

9. looking at that list makes me want to gag.

There are some real DUzies there.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

11. yep...makes Romney look normal. If there are any other half-way

sane repubs out there - they should run. Heard Wolf interview Trump yesterday...he still may run. (not that
he's half-way normal...but I'd take him any day over Bachman.

Personally, I don't see why any sane person would want to run at this point. Can you imagine how delusional
and narcissistic you would have to be to thing you could do better than Obama?

[ChairmanAgnostic]

13. agreed.

In years past, there used to be sane GOPers. BUt they joined the Endangered Species list when Newt the Grinch came to power. I recall, fondly, Chuck Percy of my state, as well as several other examples. Smart, reliable, and always trying to do the right thing for Illinois and the country. Those types no longer exist, or are rarer than the Tiffany Diamond.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

16. chuck hagel just came to mind nt

[Laura PourMeADrink]

5. Bachman was ahead in Iowa in July.

http://theiowarepublican.com/2011/tir-poll-bachmann-overtakes-romney-in-iowa/

Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann has surpassed former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney in a recent Iowa poll that was conducted by TheIowaRepublican.com. With Bachmann now leading in Iowa, Romney has fallen to second place, but he is still well ahead of third place finisher Tim Pawlenty, who has overtaken Herman Cain my a miniscule margin.

Bachmann received support from 25 percent of likely Iowa caucus goers in the poll, while Romney is backed by 21 percent. The poll also shows signs of growth for former Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty, who now stands in third place in statistical tie with Herman Cain at just under nine percent. Ron Paul finished with six percent, Newt Gingrich with four percent, Rick Santorum with two percent, and Jon Huntsman rounded out the field with one percent

[sofa king]

6. I wonder....

I'm not real enthusiastic about the idea of Dennis Kucinich challenging the President in a quixotic and ultimately damaging primary attempt. I'm not sure a Dem. President who faced a primary challenger has won reelection since... before Woodrow Wilson, maybe?

But shouldn't it be possible, at least in some states, to gather signatures and place Dennis K. on the Republican primary ballot? Is consent from the candidate even necessary? I know it wasn't in the 19th Century in some states. The general practice of planting a "red herring" candidate has just been tried by the GOP in Wisconsin.

Kucinich wouldn't win, of course, and shouldn't. But his mere existence on the ballot in open primary states would allow voters to toss a big "F you" into the Republican works, and force the actual candidates to spend more money, and might pay off for DK down the road by drawing off a small percentage of the too-dumb-to-know-what-they're-doing voters who support him in future elections on the basis of name recognition.

Anyone think he'd do it?

[Laura PourMeADrink]

7. People who follow him closely would probably know better than

I do..but my guess is no. Can't see a dem ever wanting to be on a rep ballot. But, it sure would be entertaining if
he did it. I like thinking outside the box!

My thought was that a t-bagger could come close to beating Romney in many states. And, enough cross-overs could
tip this away from our strongest challenger ..Rumney

[Laura PourMeADrink]

8. Adding....Unfortunately Perry and Bachman will split votes. nt

[Tesha]

10. Not in my opinion.

Here in New Hampshire, Republicans routinely register as
"undeclared" so they can cross-over and monkey-wrench the
Democratic Primary. Why do you think the winner of the NH
Democratic Primary so often goes on to lose the race for the
Presidency or turn out to be a Turd Way Bozo?

Tesha

[Laura PourMeADrink]

12. Ok Teesha - you are in charge of getting all NH Dems to vote Bachman

or whatever wingnut wins Iowa !! :>) Congratulations

[BackToThe60s]

14. Of course not!

My bother lives in NH, he's a Dem, and he's gonna do EXACTLY what you've described.

[Chan790]

17. I want to take this one move further...

Two Phases.

Phase 1: I think we should specifically work to cost Romney as many early contests as possible to take him out of the running. Bachmann is likely coming down with the IA caucus win, so we work to support her in NH. (I know, vomit...but it's a greater good) With two big opening losses, I think Romney will be toast (I can see the headlines now: "Is the GOP "front runner" the man that can't win anywhere?") Then we've got to work against Bachmann to cost her the nod too. The rest of that field is not energizing but one of them will be a bad nominee for the GOP.

Phase 2: We work our fannies off to push the "Draft Michele" pill, the tea party core will fall-in for it because gawddamit they're iconoclastic and they love them some crazy-eyes.

I see a lot of possible outcomes but a split RW ticket with someone like Perry or Pawlenty as the GOP nom and Bachmann running as an outsider is gonna be good any way around. They'll infight, they'll tear the base asunder, they'll do what conservatives always do when they get pitted against themselves in a big election for the big taco...they'll turn on segments of their constituency that they feel less support from in lame-brained attempts to appeal to moderates and those hurt feelings will carry over into 2014 and Congress.

Obama can't triangulate two opposing factions at once and they won't agree on enough to raise a viable opposition.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

20. I like the way you think. It would be so cool if we had secret access

to all democrats to be able to pull something like this off. Personally, would worry if Rudy
got in. He drives me crazy, but he is very, very quick on his feet and persuasive.

[awoke_in_2003]

18. the whole "they did it, so why can't we"...

is exactly why this country is as fucked up as it is, IMO. You can only control yourself and what you do. If you don't stand on principles, you can't expect anyone else to.

[JVS]

19. Please don't help the wingnut. We might end up stuck with him or her.

[Hawkowl]

23. Indeed. W was a wingnut

If W could be elected, anyone could be.

[JVS]

29. Also, even if the wingnut loses it shifts the spectrum of the election rightward.

[humankarenball]

22. Long time lurker from SCarolina

Joined to say... I don't have to vote in the open primary here in upstate South Carolina to make sure a "wingnut" wins. My neighbors are more than happy to take care of that for me, election after election. Sometimes it's really depressing being so blue in such a red place.

Hi everybody. :)

[Laura PourMeADrink]

32. Welcome to DU !

[GoCubsGo]

34. Hello and welcome, fellow South Carolinian!

Yep. They sure do love the nut-jobs here, don't they? It IS depressing to live here. I just found out that Joke Wilson is going to be my representative, not that the current looney is any better...

[Ter]

24. Ron Paul will win it on his own

With or without our help.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

25. NH?

[Ter]

28. Oh, I thought we were talking about the Iowa Caucus

How are the polls looking in NH now?

[Laura PourMeADrink]

30. See post #4 for NH

[Laura PourMeADrink]

31. See post #5 for Iowa

[Balbus]

26. Not if you're a republican.

[Vinca]

35. I'm in NH and I'm voting for Bachmann.