For all of the anxiety about the state primaries, after reading this in today’s paper, I found myself wondering why we bother. And then I found myself wondering why this is even legal.
Detroit Democrats told to vote for Ron Paul in GOP primary
By Kathleen Gray
They wore Obama T-shirts and draped a banner calling for the re-election of President Barack Obama.
But a couple hundred Detroit Democrats got a bit of a conflicting message Thursday evening at Triumph Baptist Church in Detroit.
At a rally for Obama’s re-election, they were told to vote for U.S. Rep. Ron Paul for president at the Feb. 28 presidential primary.
By voting for Paul, a Republican, they hope to derail Mitt Romney’s primary performance in his native state and force Paul to stay in the race and run as an independent.
Because Obama is the lone Democrat on the ballot, there’s no harm to him, and state Democrats plan to officially nominate him at caucuses in May.
“There is a $10-million election taking place next month with our tax dollars,” said WCHB radio host Mildred Gaddis. “Help me and help Ron Paul get all the votes he can.
“They can’t control this. He’s driving them crazy. We need him to run as an independent, shaving off votes from the Republican.”
Voters in Michigan don’t have to register as a Republican, Democrat or independent. And although it is frowned upon, partisan voters can cast ballots for their opponents in the primary, just to create a bit of chaos.
It was a strategy used by Democrats in 2000 when John McCain beat George W. Bush in that year’s presidential primary and by Republicans in 1998 when they helped give attorney Geoffrey Fieger the Democratic gubernatorial nomination.
Democratic activist Ernest Johnson said Romney’s South Carolina loss was good because it took Romney’s focus off Obama and onto another Republican, Newt Gingrich.
“This is Romney’s home, and if he comes here and loses — which we can help him do — his campaign is over,” Johnson said.
A couple of important points to consider:
- This is being done inside a “Baptist” church
- Crossing the party line is done all the time
- This is how unelectable John McCain won the primary in 2008.
For more on the open primary, go here.
I am against All Primaries!
I remember Rush Limbaugh urging everyone in Texas to vote for Hilary in the 2008 primary.
Then let’s think strategic and make Open Primaries a Conservative tool as well.
That was the whole idea behind Rush Limbaugh’s Campaign Chaos during the 2008 Democratic Primary elections. Rush was encouraging Republicans to vote for Hillary so as to stop Barry Soetoro.