I’ve only been registered to vote in states with a closed
primary, so I’ve only ever voted for the Democratic candidate I hoped would win
the nomination and subsequently the Presidency. I was always a bit perplexed by
the concept of an open primary; it always seemed to me like a tremendous
opportunity for a faction to coalesce to play spoiler.
In this year’s nutty primary, it seems that playing spoiler
is a popular move. Through personal friends and radio coverage, I’ve discovered
that more liberals than I would have anticipated are using their open primaries
to try to defeat the GOP’s nomination of he who shall not be named. While I
appreciate the creative thinking of such individuals and admit to enjoying the “smarter
than thou” feeling generated by using the system in a way it’s not intended to
be used, I have to say: folks, you’re not helping.
First of all, I find it unlikely that Bernie supporters
would forego their part in a Bernie nomination to cast a Republican primary
ballot. Bernie needs every vote he can get and his supporters understand that
this is a people’s effort where every vote is crucial. That means that the
would-be Democratic primary voters who flip to vote for anyone but what’s-his-face
are likely voters who would otherwise support Hillary Clinton. Clearly they are
confident enough in their candidate’s eventual election to see no value in
their vote for her. I find that dangerous to their position, and incredibly
insulting to Bernie’s campaign. I’ve read enough about primaries and caucuses
and delegates and superdelegates to know that I have no idea what’s going to
happen at the convention and neither does anyone else. Let me be clear that I
don’t hate Hillary Clinton. I respect her tremendously for what she has
accomplished in a hostile system, and I recognize that some of the things she
may have had to do to achieve that are things I’d find unsavory in hindsight. I
agree that it sucks for her to never have gotten what she thought would surely
be “her chance,” but life sucks and isn’t fair sometimes. Regardless, as a
Democratic voter who truly, wholeheartedly believes that a particular candidate
is best for the country, you owe it to that candidate, to the country, and to
yourself to cast your vote honestly rather than strategically.
My husband theorized that Democrats who try to undermine the
Drumpf Stompf by voting Republican in open primaries are risk-averse. Indeed,
Hillary Clinton appeals largely to more moderate Democrats, and it’s probably
fair to say they generally tend to be more risk-averse than radicals who
support Bernie. So here they are, hedging their bets, trying to get someone
palatable as the GOP nominee. Just in case, I guess? I don’t find a single one
of the Republican candidates palatable, so this is a non-option for me. The way
I see it, the Republican candidate simply cannot
win in November. We cannot allow it.
And for that reason, it seems obvious to me that every Democrat
should want the Orange One to get the
GOP nomination. I still believe there are enough reasonable people in the
country to prevent him from winning a general election. The petulant
right-wingers who would rather stay home than cast a ballot for either their
nominee or a Democrat just put fewer Republican-voting bodies at the polls, and
that’s fine too. A Romney or other Republican who would enter as a third-party
candidate would be a dream. It has become clear that if that guy gets the GOP
nomination, there will be chaos in the party, and that can be nothing but good.
Stop trying to be tricky. Vote your conscience.
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