Republicans vs. Democrates in the elections

[luthersomd]

Originally Posted by vraiblonde

Now this is interesting. Did the Democrats allow Independents and other minority parties to vote in their primary? Because that would explain why there were so many "Democrat" voters.

You have to be a registered Democrat to vote in a Democrat primary. Its the same in the Republican party. Independants, greens,etc. don't participate.

[willie]

Originally Posted by luthersomd

You have to be a registered Democrat to vote in a Democrat primary. Its the same in the Republican party. Independants, greens,etc. don't participate.

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Originally Posted by luthersomd

Democrats traditionally have open primaries and Republicans have closed primaries. Whats the use of voting when the winners are hand picked in advance.

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Explain this Luther.

[Tom Sawyer]

Originally Posted by Lenny

Steele vs. Cardin will be great fun to watch. We will see how the Democrat base chooses to resolve this vote now that Queazy is out of the running.

Steele should carry this one , but it will bear watching.

Ehrlich -O'Malley. Another one to watch but even yellow dog Democrats I have spoken to admit O'Malley isnt much , he even had to have the state come in and run his schools in Baltimore. If he cant run a city we dont need him running the State.

The Sherriffs race is going to be hotly contested. Personally I like Zylack ,but Cameron might give him a race if he gets out and gets himself seen.

I am glad to see the Demmies finally dumped Schaeffer. You cant keep making all the women mad and win.

[Oz (Premo)]

Originally Posted by Tom Sawyer

The Sherriffs race is going to be hotly contested. Personally I like Zylack ,but Cameron might give him a race if he gets out and gets himself seen.

What are you talking about? I see Cameron at so many functions I think he's stalking me...

[Tom Sawyer]

He sure has been hiding from the 7th district then.

[luthersomd]

Originally Posted by willie

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Explain this Luther.

I define open primaries to mean that ballot positions are usually very competitive and their are numerous candidates. I define closed primaries to mean that ballot positions are selected more by the party and that their is little or no competition.

[Tonio]

Originally Posted by luthersomd

I define open primaries to mean that ballot positions are usually very competitive and their are numerous candidates. I define closed primaries to mean that ballot positions are selected more by the party and that their is little or no competition.

I'm pretty sure those are not the definitions used by the parties and election boards. They define open primaries to mean that independent or nonaligned voterrs can participate. They define closed primaries to mean that only registered party voters can participate.

You have a point about competitive versus noncompetitive primaries. It's probable that in some races, the party candidates are chosen ahead of time by party bigwigs, simply as an attempt to preserve party unity.

[Oz (Premo)]

Originally Posted by Tonio

You have a point about competitive versus noncompetitive primaries. It's probable that in some races, the party candidates are chosen ahead of time by party bigwigs, simply as an attempt to preserve party unity.

Electable candidates are heavily recruited by their party...

[vraiblonde]

Originally Posted by Oz

Electable candidates are heavily recruited by their party...

Of course they are. The party wants a win, don't they? So it stands to reason that they'll recruit viable candidates.

Tonio, ANYONE can get their name on the ballot - JPC proved that beyond a doubt. But you can't expect, say, the Republicans to throw the same support behind Dan the Wig Man as they did Mike Steele. Steele has a good chance of winning in the General - the Wig Man would get slaughtered.

[Tonio]

Originally Posted by vraiblonde

Tonio, ANYONE can get their name on the ballot - JPC proved that beyond a doubt. But you can't expect, say, the Republicans to throw the same support behind Dan the Wig Man as they did Mike Steele. Steele has a good chance of winning in the General - the Wig Man would get slaughtered.

I agree. I was mostly responding to Luther's point. I had in mind a scenario where three or four strong candidates were pursuing their party's nomination, which would seem to make it harder for supporters to back the winner after the primary. Do you think that's the case? It seems to be less of a problem when there are only two strong candidates, like Bush and McCain in 2000, or Ben Cardin and Toshiro Mifune.