Closed Primaries in Idaho - Part Zwei

Thinking about yesterday's partial-posting (on Closed Primaries) brought many memories back to my frontal lobe from the 2000 election for US Congress. They came like a flood...my son's arrest for drugs at the 11th hour, Dems switching over, meeting our vote goals but losing an election, etc, etc. In the last analysis, losing in an election allowed me to win in life. Plus, Butch was a terrific Congressman. Idaho chose well in the General Election.

(The great lessons I've learned since then prove the value of that time in my life - though that small election is little remembered, nor highly considered, when canvassing the amazing races of Idaho's rich political history.)

The interesting thing about the 2000 Primary was not the Butch/Dennis deal. The fascinating thing about the whole GOP Closed Primary debate, then and now, comes down to a philosphical question, illustrated by that race: If the GOP has such a profound conservative political philosophy (and I would therefore suppose, platform)....WHY would the big-dawgs of America's Mega-RedStateVille NOT want the following:

• A Closed Primary for GOP-ers to vote for their philosphical "kind".
• A decision to have the Party Platform used as a matrix by which all candidates are judged.
• A slate of candidates trying to out-GOP each other by over-supporting the Party Platform.

Why? I think it may be that many in GOP power in the past simply have not believed their own platform of conservative economic AND social public policy.

Does Butch? I believe he does. Do others? C'mon....even in their best evening clothes at a Lincoln Day Dinner, they hold their noses at social conservatives who act to save pre-born babies' lives, keeping taxes down, encouraging competition in education through tax credits and cutting government costs. They smile and say nice things, but they do not mean them, do they?

That's the root of this debate, isn't it?  Disingenuousness.

D's should nominate D's. R's should nominate R's. Let's be honest - and bring a level playing field back to party politics in Idaho, don't 'cha think?

Den

Comments

[Believer]

I think I understand why some do not want closed primaries in Idaho. I believe that the Democrats would like a say in who they are going to have to vote for/against. Let's face it, any Democratic candidate does not stand much of a chance of election in Idaho. So, in order to be able to participate in the process, open primaries are the only way to have a say. Right, wrong or indifferent, there it is. And it will remain that way as long as one party has so much more pull and power over the others.

[Steve Rankin]

A lawsuit similar to the one just filed by the Idaho Republican Party is pending in the 5th U. S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans. If the 5th Circuit rules against the open primary, the Idaho GOP will be able to cite that decision in its case.

Here's my take on this topic.

~~ Steve Rankin
Jackson, Mississippi
oldsouthwestATaol.com

[Dennis Mansfield]

Thanks for the comment(s).

I distill it down to this: either Parties mean something or they do not. A candidate can't have it both ways...uneless he/she lives in Idaho!
Den