Reply #14: The tough question for progressives: Vote for Newt?

[Jim Lane]

If you're in a state with open primaries, and there's no Democratic race that interests you, you could take a Republican ballot and --
(1) Vote for Gingrich as the candidate who'd be easiest to beat.
(2) Vote for Romney as the candidate who'd be less objectionable as President.
(3) Vote for Huntsman as the candidate who'd be least objectionable as President, even though this vote wouldn't accomplish much because he has zero chance of being the nominee.
(4) Vote for Paul to encourage him or someone else to mount a third-party effort.
(5) Vote for whichever candidate is in second place in the overall race, to delay the time when the contest is effectively over. (This is the mirror image of Limbaugh's "Operation Chaos" of 2008.)

The point of the OP is that choice #1 could well backfire. I think most DUers would be aghast at a Romney presidency but even more aghast at a Gingrich presidency. Still, any Republican win would be bad, so there's something to be said for trying to sabotage their process.