SheWrites wrote:Perhaps my brain is in utopia at the moment but I'm thinking if I, a registered Republican, had a vote in a democratic primary then perhaps I would listen more closely and be more discerning with my precious right to vote. I would be allowed to vote my choice in both party primaries. Seems to me the ultimate winners for each party would be bringing a voice of all the people?
Skewed? Perhaps. Just thinking...
All the people with a choice in both parties. Might put us all in a more reasonable state of thinking of best choices for all and not just some.
Not only are you living in a utopia, you have a very bad memory. During the 2008 primary process, Rush Limbaugh was pushing what he called "Operation Chaos", daily encouraging republicans to vote in the democratic primary in order to prolong the emergence of a clear winner for as long as possible. If Obama began to pull ahead, Rush would push for republicans to vote for Clinton. If Clinton began to pull ahead, Rush would push for republicans to vote for Obama. The goal was to tear the democratic party apart. This sort of thing is a spineless attempt to win an election by gaming the voting process as opposed to winning people over honestly in the arena of ideas.
You know how there are things in life that seem like they should work and that everyone should be able to enjoy, but there there is some lowest common denominator that spoils it for everyone? This is one of those things. We can't have open and honest primaries because of republicans.
http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/daily/2008/03/12/rush_the_vote_operation_chaos
BEGIN TRANSCRIPT
RUSH: Operation Chaos. What did that black website name this yesterday? I'm having a mental block. The Rush Vote. Listen to this. This is from somebody by the name of John K. Wilson at the Huffington Post today. Headline: "Mississippi, 'Limbaugh Effect' Softens Blow for Hillary Clinton -- Hillary Clinton suffered a huge defeat last night in Mississippi, and now faces an insurmountable pledged delegate lead by Barack Obama. But what most pundits missed was the fact that Obama's victory would have been even more overwhelming in Mississippi (and he might have won the popular vote in Texas) if not for the 'Limbaugh Effect': Republicans voting in the Democratic primary in order to undermine Barack Obama and help John McCain. ... In the voting during January and February, Republicans were an average of 3.8% of the voters in the Democratic Primary, and they heavily supported Obama. But for the primaries in March, in Texas, Ohio, and Mississippi, Republicans have been 8% of the voters in the Democratic primary, and now they heavily support Hillary Clinton. This is definite proof of the 'Limbaugh Effect' coming through."
Then you go to the last paragraph. "Rarely in American politics have so many people ever intentionally voted for a candidate they hate so much. Approximately 40,000 Republicans in Mississippi decided to vote for Hillary Clinton in order to help her destroy the Democratic Party this year with a divided convention. Hillary Clinton's 'big wins' in March failed to help her close the delegate gap, and she cannot possibly win the pledged delegate race against Obama. The only hope for Hillary Clinton is that Republican voters will help her reduce the gap against Obama, and that the superdelegates will somehow be convinced to obey the will of Rush Limbaugh and his acolytes by stealing the election from the legitimate voters."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rush_Limbaugh_Show#Operation_Chaos
In late February 2008, Limbaugh announced "Operation Chaos," a political call to action with the initial plan to have voters of the Republican Party temporarily cross over to vote in the Democratic primary and vote for Hillary Clinton, who at the time was in the midst of losing eleven straight primary contests to Barack Obama. Limbaugh has also cited the open primary process in the early primary states of New Hampshire and South Carolina, which allowed independent voters to cross over into the Republican primaries to choose John McCain over more conservative candidates (such as Fred Thompson), as an inspiration.
At the point in which Limbaugh announced his gambit, Obama had seemed on the verge of clinching the Democratic nomination.[112] However, Clinton subsequently won the Ohio primary and the Texas primary (while losing the Texas caucus and the overall delegate split) with large pluralities from rural counties; thus reemerging as a competitive opponent in the race.[113]
On April 29, 2008 Limbaugh declared an "operational pause" in Operation Chaos, saying that Obama's defeat in the 2008 Pennsylvania primary and fallout from statements from Obama ally Reverend Jeremiah Wright could have damaged his campaign to the extent superdelegates would shift to Clinton's side.[114] Determining Obama had weathered that storm, Limbaugh lifted the pause the next day and renewed his call for his listeners to vote for Clinton in the upcoming Indiana and North Carolina primaries.[115] Obama won the North Carolina primary[116] but was narrowly defeated in Indiana, where Clinton won decisively in rural counties that normally vote Republican in presidential elections.[117]
The overall legality of Operation Chaos in several states, including Ohio and Indiana, is disputed. In Ohio, new party members are required to sign a pledge of loyalty to the party they join for a minimum of one year, making participation in "Operation Chaos" a possible felony (election falsification) in that state. However, the state attorney general there refused to press charges on anyone, saying that it would be nearly impossible to enforce because of difficulties proving voter intent and concerns that a loyalty oath would violate freedom of association.[118]
Home
