NC GOP moving to block independents from primaries

[chathambooks]

Schmukabee hasn't a chance outside of the bible belt. Not worried.

[Muddylaces]

Schmukabee hasn't a chance outside of the bible belt. Not worried.

I don't see it possible to nominate a conservative in an open primary.   Even if we don't get Huckabee, he can cause Romney or Palin to lose, giving us the 2012 version of McCain.

[RJLeeb]

Schmukabee hasn't a chance outside of the bible belt. Not worried.

Hmmm.  Interesting sentiment.  Mind answering this question:

How is Mitt Romney more of a conservative choice than Mike Huckabee?

[peacefulcapitalist]

Schmukabee hasn't a chance outside of the bible belt. Not worried.

I don't see it possible to nominate a conservative in an open primary.   Even if we don't get Huckabee, he can cause Romney or Palin to lose, giving us the 2012 version of McCain.

If you have an open GOP primary and no interesting Democratic primary, you might have a point.  In fact in 2008 the GOP nomination was settled well before the Democratic nomination so there was always a Democratic primary that was just as interesting if not more so, so Democrats and liberal independents voted in that primary, they wanted to have a say in the Democratic race muchmore than they wanted make mischief with the GOP.

In fact a lot of people think the Democratic nomination was drawn out because once McCain clinched the GOP nomination, GOP and conservative independent voters in later states voted in the Democratic primaries, mainly for Hillary Clinton.  They even had a name for it, "Operation Chaos"

And open GOP primaries are not why John McCain won. He won because the more conservative candidates were more numerous and split the vote in some key states like SC & FL (FL btw did NOT have open primaries), in each of those states he  won with less than 40%.  Fred Thompson drew support from Huckabee in SC ,and Guliani hurt Romney in FL, for example.

[belle]

there was a lot of excitement in the Democratic Presidential primary in NC, held late, in May of 08. many independents, mostly young voters, chose to vote Democratic ballots. they chose Obama.

if the GOP doesn't want the independents, that is their loss. unfortunately for the Democrats, they decided to keep it open.

the Democrats will have to work some, to keep them.

[Beel]

The search for the kind of ideological purity implied by closing their primary will most likely insure further Republican defeats.  At the state level, NC has mostly elected sensible, moderate people when it comes to Republicans--Holshouser and Martin being two pretty good examples.  Neither of these Republican Governors would be electable in a Republican primary which excluded all but the most conservative.  Jesse Helms was but one NC Republican--I'm not at all sure that NC ever wanted a bunch of Helms in public office--one was probably enough to soothe the burning kernel of anger that lies at the very base of the base. 

McCain didn't lose because he was moderate.  He lost because the country had had enough of Bush/Cheney and their succession of blunders and disasters, because Obama was an obvious fresh, interesting, alternative--more articulate, much more hopeful (this is why the Peace Prize came Obama's way too).  And also, McCain lost because to most people, Palin was an absurd choice for VP which raised immediate doubts about McCain's judgement.  Oh, and then there was the Meltdown, which affected nearly every voter directly.  None of this is to deny that for some, McCain was too moderate to vote for. 

I don't know why nearly everyone, of whatever political persuasion, can't see this basic lay of the land re 2008.  There probably wasn't a Republican who could have been elected in the face of the context of 2008.  The selection of Palin was an amazing blunder, spitting in the teeth of a gale--which in response turned into a Cat 2 hurricane. 

[RJLeeb]

There probably wasn't a Republican who could have been elected in the face of the context of 2008.

Glad to see you acknowledge that people voted for Obama based upon who he isn't as opposed to who he is.

I guess that's rather obvious now given his approval rating.

[NC YIPPIE]

I love how approval ratings are so important - sometimes, anyway. 

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