Sanders Is Running Out of Open Primaries

[applegrove]

Sanders Is Running Out of Open Primaries

https://politicalwire.com/2016/04/06/sanders-is-running-out-of-open-primaries/

"SNIP............



First Read: “There’s another potential problem for Sanders as the Democratic contest heads into New York, which is Clinton’s home state but also where Sanders grew up: New York is a closed primary, which means that the independents that he won 72%-28% in Wisconsin won’t be able to vote. And the deadline to register as a New York Democrat ended on March 25. Of the 16 Democratic remaining primaries, just three are completely open contests.”



...............SNIP"

[NWCorona]

1. New York will be the test to see if he's gotten over that hump

His recent polling bodes well tho

[geek tragedy]

2. yeah, Independents are pretty much irrelevant now.

there will be some registered Democrats who identify as independents. But you can figure they will be around 10%.

[Hortensis]

41. Huh? And, huh?

[geek tragedy]

42. They are irrelevant in the upcoming primaries. nt

[timlot]

3. Nothing but upside for Bernie...

If Clinton loses NY all bets are off. The pressure if on her to perform.

[R B Garr]

4. The Independents get coddled in the early states. Must

love the attention.

[morningfog]

5. That's silly. Bernie's message was not changed or tailored for Indys.

Rather, Indys came out to support him as the Democrstic nominee because his messages appealed to them as well as the liberal base.

[R B Garr]

6. Hilarious, since Bernie's only been a Dem for several

weeks.

I would love to have all the attention on me and cameras following me around, ex-Presidents hanging out. I'm forgotten here in California.

[morningfog]

7. Don't you worry, they are coming. Your state will decide it.

[R B Garr]

8. Okay. Il better get ready for my close-up. Nt

[cloudythescribbler]

9. A push for CATEGORICAL opposition to closed primaries at the Dem Convention is a must

Clearly this is one of the many changes that, regardless of who the nominee is, Bernie & his delegates need to push for at the Convention.

I noticed however that a very recent poll in PA (another major closed primary, coming up on the 26th) showed Bernie had caught up to only 6 pct behind Hillary (50-44), and I can only assume the poll would specifically only include registered Democrats. [could try this link -- it's a Quinnipiac poll:

http://www.qu.edu/images/polling/pa/pa04062016_Pfgr37w.pdf



Bernie should run pretty strongly even in closed primaries in NY and PA, though the possibility of large enough victories to radically slash Hillary's delegate lead seems remote

[geek tragedy]

18. those are matters for state law, DNC can't change state law nt

[Nye Bevan]

23. Why the heck should Republicans and other non-Democrats be allowed

to help choose our candidate?

[pampango]

40. Mixed feelings. I agree that Democrats should choose Democratic candidates and republicans

should choose republican candidates. In making that choice we can use any criteria we want: electability, 'purity', insider/outsider, experience, new ideas, etc. but we get to select who will represent our party. I have Democratic friends who voted for Trump in the Ohio primary even though they hate him, because they think he would be a weak candidate in the GE. I understand they did that but I can understand how a republican would view that as a misuse of the primary system.

OTOH, my preferred candidate does better in open primaries. If he were doing better among registered Democrats in closed primaries rather than with independents and crossovers in open primaries, I would not be so torn.

[CanadaexPat]

10. One of the remaining is California.

[Retrograde]

13. California's is only semi-open

The Democratic presidential primary is open to people registered as Democrats or Non-Partisan (aka Declined to State): Republicans, Greens, Libertarians, etc are excluded. (And to confuse things further, the American Independent Party's presidential primary is also open to Non-Partisans, but they have nothing to do with Sanders or Clinton). The Republican presidential primary is limited to registered Republicans.

The rest of the primaries being held the same day - Senate, House, etc - are all open primaries.

I haven't decided how I'm voting in the Democratic presidential primary yet: I'm not thrilled about either candidate.

[CanadaexPat]

15. Ah OK thanks

I'm originally from NY, I wasn't aware of how many variations of 'open' there were.

[Retrograde]

25. California gets even more complicated

for the non-presidential primaries, the top two finishers, regardless of party, go on to slug it out in November. In 2012 (IIRC) my state assembly district had 2 Dems running for the same seat - other districts have had 2 Republicans on the ballot. And we don't believe in listing candidates in alphabetical order - ballot listings are first randomized, than shifted by assembly district (may be by Congressional district, but the results are similar) so that no two districts are likely to have the same ballot. So, for example, Kamal Harris may show up as the 3rd candidate on the list for Senate on my ballot, but as 5th or 1st or anywhere else in other locations.

50 states, at least 50 ways of doing things.

[NurseJackie]

11. Tick-tock!

[jcgoldie]

12. I think his bigger problem is...

He's running out of states where the democratic base is much whiter than the general population. New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, California... states with many more delegates at stake than those that he's been winning. They have a lot more black and brown people than Wisconsin.

[azurnoir]

14. yep limiting who can vote works well for Hillary or that's what we're being told

and here I thought that was a repuke gambit

[geek tragedy]

19. everyone is free to register as a Democrat and vote in our primary

you don't even need a form of ID.

[azurnoir]

20. you do need to name a party in my state where Bernie won :)

[Lucinda]

26. A caucus limits who can vote...anyone can register as a Dem.

Your premise is faulty.

[azurnoir]

28. no in my state you do not have to register under a party Bernie won

to require such a declaration of voting intentions to me is antithetical to democracy and the privacy of ones vote and I suspect I am not alone in that

[Lucinda]

29. I said anyone CAN register as a Dem. Not that all states require it.

So you are anti caucus then...since you worried about the privacy of ones vote?

We are electing the nominee for the DEMOCRATIC party.
Any process such as a caucus without early voting disenfranchises our voters.
Any process such as a primary that lets voters cross party lines to screw with results is unacceptable.
Anyone who wants to be part of our selection process should be a party member.

I get why some states allow open voting. The purpose is to make it easier for anyone to support our candidates.
That is a good thing. But, we are selecting our party nominee...not the Indy/noncommitted candidate.

[azurnoir]

36. how does not not registering under a party label disenfranchise voters ?

I consider which party I am voting private not the business of some voter registry period, I understand though you seem to embrace so apparently wholeheartedly such practices though

and your attempt at smearing as being for voter disenfranchisement was very well understood too smears and more smears

[totodeinhere]

16. Bernie's ability to win open primaries is a plus.

To win in November we need to get many of the same non-Democratic voters who vote in open primaries to vote for us.

[Cali_Democrat]

17. Ain't that a shame. nt

[azurnoir]

21. yep Democrats using limiting voter participation to win is quite shameful I agree

[bettyellen]

39. you mean with caucuses?

[frylock]

22. Wonder how Mrs. Clinton will fare in the open general election?

Independents love her!

[GreenPartyVoter]

27. Really hope we don't have to find out.

[Nye Bevan]

24. One factor is Republicans voting for what they think is the least electable Democrat,

in order to help the Republicans' chances in November.

[litlbilly]

30. You realize, if Hillary is in the GE, she will not get those Inde votes and she loses to the repubs?

Not to mention the other people who simply cant stand her, and after today using the 26 dead kids as a prop against Bernie, it doesn't get more pathetic than that. Cant wait to see what other bullshit you guys are gonna fling. So far, it aint stickin...

[applegrove]

31. You do realize that this is a primary? That Hillary will get many of the independents, who

did not vote for her yesterday, in the GE.. Especially if Trump, Cruz missile or Ryan are running in the GE. Gallup says that 73% of Americans want alternative fuel promoted over fossil fuel use. If Clinton wins the nomination she will do great in the General.

[litlbilly]

33. Here's whats wrong with your assessment, she is not gonna get to the GE.

[jillan]

32. Except for this one teeny state with 475 available delegates.

http://www.sos.ca.gov/elections/political-parties/no-party-preference/

[AgingAmerican]

34. I remember you guys saying he could never win a primary outside Vermont

[ecstatic]

35. Good riddance! Nt

[SFnomad]

37. Sanders problems with Independents in NY is even worse than that.

The deadline to register as a NY Democrat was March 25th ... but that's if you were not registered to vote at all.

If you were registered to vote as something other than a Democrat ... Republican, Independent or whatever ... you had to change your affiliation to Democrat by October 9th, 2015 to be able to vote in the primaries on April 19th.

[Ken Burch]

38. It's not like he ONLY gets support from indies.

He scored landslides in Washington, Alaska and Hawaii, all of which are closed. And he'd have won those states as primaries, too.