Sarah Palin is all the reason anyone ever needs for Open Primaries,

[Perky]

Bluntly, Southern white Republicans love her. I have no earthly idea why...but they do. And that might be enough to win the nomination in 2012. SHe could suck up all the oxygen in Iowa and South Carolina and kill the rest of the wannabees on the money race. And while I like others relish that possibility,,, it should give us all some pause.


While there is no Democratic Party analog at the moment, the possibility of one emerging certainly does exist. I not talking about her flightineess or he lack of gravitas or her political tone-deafness, I am talking about her appeal to a narrow, but powerful, monied, organized portion of her party.

The value of Open Primaries is that it provides protection against a portion, any portion of a party, hijacking the nomination from the rest of the base, which might not be as lockstep behind any other candidate as a Palin-esque type candidate might engender among her supporters.


Open Primaries might raise the hackles of some because it allowsin "outsiders", but the risk of a Palin Type emerging ought to be more terrifying when one considers how weak a narrowly focused candidate winds up being in the General Election,



:hide: :popcorn:

[GarbagemanLB]

1. The latest Democratic primary is evidence that open primaries are bullshit.

If you want to support a specific party's candidate in the primary, join that party. Don't play games like Rush and his group did.

[Perky]

2. Who would have won the nomination if only Dems voted?

[Occam Bandage]

3. No way to know.

If you change the rules, the players change the way they play the game.

[GarbagemanLB]

5. Who knows. All I know is that there was an organized attempt by Rush Limbaugh, who has

15+ million listeners, to fuck with the Democratic primary, especially towards the end in states like Texas.

[dancely]

12. But because of limbaugh "operation chaos"

we won indiana and north carolina.

[Thrill]

4. Palin will never be President. Did you see the new Womens Poll today:

How can a woman so disliked by women ever win a National Election? Not going to happen.

[Perky]

9. Of course not. But She could easily be the nominee

[DrToast]

16. Link?

[racaulk]

6. No way.

Let the Republicans decide for themselves which candidate will best represent them in the GE. And then let all Americans decide which candidate best represents them after the primaries are over.

If Obama plays his cards right, and I think he will, he will be a formidable opponent against whoever the GOP picks as their candidate in 2012. He should be in a position to blow away Palin, Jindal, Romney, or anyone else. As such, our toying with their nomination process would be a moot point.

I don't like it when they do it to us, as with "Operation Chaos," so I won't do it to them. YMMV.

[Blue_In_AK]

7. I can think of one instance where I'd like to vote as a Republican

and that's if Sarah decides to run against Lisa Murkowski for her Senate seat in 2010. That's going to be one entertaining catfight, and I would love to help shut Sarah down before she gets to the general.

http://mudflats.wordpress.com/2008/12/02/palin-vs-murkowskianother-epic-battle/

[sofa king]

8. Southern white Republicans love her because they're told to love her.

That's the problem with right-wing authoritarians, who make up 23% of the population. They don't have the critical thinking skills to think for themselves, and they only believe what's told to them by the authority figures they trust.

So with regard to almost a quarter of all Americans, it doesn't matter what they think, because they're not really thinking, they are being programmed. The people who are important are the lever-pullers behind that dynamic--the authority figures themselves, to some extent, and even more important, the people who tell those people what to do.

And I know exactly what those folks want. They want another narcissistic sucker, someone not smart enough to sift the details alone. They want a "decider" who is really just randomly picking among carefully selected and presented options provided by the lever-pullers.

They want one of those right-wing authoritarian fools to be the puppet on the throne, because they're easy to control, too self-centered to feel remorse for their evil deeds, and too egotistical to point the finger at the real culprits when it's time to put someone in jail. In that respect, Bush and Palin are identical, and Ronald Reagan was damned close.

[DevonRex]

10. They like their women stupid and fertile. Seeing her field dress

some large animal sends little shivers all up and down their legs.

[hay rick]

11. Shivers up and down their LEGS?

I guess Republicans ARE different.

[DevonRex]

14. Heh. Just couldn't bring myself to say the other word. The thought

sent waves of nausea through ME. :)

[hay rick]

13. In an open primary

I'm probably voting for Sarah Palin- because I think she can't possibly win.

[Clio the Leo]

15. I used to fear a 2012 Palin run.....

... but everything she has done since the election and everything HE has done since the election proves she is no threat.

Run, Sarah, Run.