Interesting to see this dialogue in here. It's truly shameful that Congressman Rutherford has decided to throw his lot with the seditionists.
As a result, you have GOP politicians doubling down their loyalty constantly looking over their shoulders not just because they fear a mean tweet by the president but they can't rely on the national party having their back in a challenge. What's more disgusting is how the party encouraged having more moderate members to be primaried and monetized these battles raising funds in the guise of helping out these campaigns like a jerk encouraging a cat fight between two of his potential lovers and having people place bets on them.
That's why I've always been in favor of open primaries. Both the Democrats and the Republicans have compromised themselves in so many ways and it's a shame that people like me and a growing number of voters that choose to have no party affiliation are locked out of this aspect of the democratic process and hopefully the betrayal of the Republican party to what should be fact-based, civil, and free of demagoguery will be a wake up call to how we election our leaders in the future.
Moderates being primaried has been a symptom even before the Trump era. Look no further than the Tea Party in 2010, and the impact those elected officials have had on the GOP. Not to mention the odds that people like Marco Rubio will be facing Trump-style primary challenges in 2022 and beyond.
I have always opposed open primaries, feeling that the parties should choose their own candidates. I have felt the answer to the parties fielding extreme candidates is to have non-partisan redistricting. I have now come around. Having open primaries should lead to more moderate candidates, on both sides. That said, not having experienced open primaries, how does it work? At the polling place, do you request a ballot from one of the parties and only vote in one party? Or, are all the races on a single ballot, so you can vote, in the exciting race for Dog Catcher, for your favorite Republican and your favorite Democrat?
The biggest challenge with open primaries in my opinion is the increased risk of sabotage, by which I mean voters actively choosing the worst possible candidate for one party in order to bolster their own party's chances of success in the general election. Not to mention that it isn't a guarantee that non-party-affiliated voters are necessarily moderates, and might instead make it easier for unaffiliated voters even more radical than the bulk of the party deciding the nominee. Also, primary elections are often sparser in turnout anyway, which bolsters the likelihood of more radical candidates prevailing.
Personally, I'd suggest that ranked choice voting is a better avenue for producing more moderate candidates. It becomes much more likely that the more moderate candidates will be ranked later, which means as 1st-choice radical candidates are stricken by lack of broad popularity, those 2nd and 3rd choice ballots with broader acceptance (but not necessarily excitement) have a better chance of rising to the top.
It's difficult to be optimistic about politics on any level, and I'm frankly tired of thinking about it. Politics today seems to attract only sociopaths or those looking for personal enrichment or some combination thereof. I now know that I am not alone with my disgust of partisan politics locally and nationally, and I am sure that there will be many others reexamining their respective party affiliations. I don't see either of the major parties being a viable home for me at this point. I am not a radical by any stretch, pretty much a middle of the road guy. It's really a shame.
(Full disclosure, active Democrat here) My view of politics, especially as I've become more active in it, is that statements like these can be at times a self-fulfilling prophecy. If we abandon politics to being the realm of the corrupt, only the corrupt will ever dare to try. Now, I'm young, and it's certainly possible that I'm simply being naive about a foolish endeavor, but I really do see it as necessary that normal people, good people, try as they can to make themselves heard. I think a saying for it is that "you might not care about politics, but politics cares very much about you." Jacksonville of all places is a pretty stellar example of this. Thanks to our nonsense election dates, turnout is very low, and yet the ramifications of those elections have been
severe. From the betrayals of consolidation to the wholesale destruction of downtown, and now the massive giveaways to developers with Lot J, all things that affect our quality of living.
No matter the party, elected officials do at times need to be bullied into following the will of the people, and giving up on vigilance is perhaps the best way to ensure that they are not allowed to get away with not doing so.
