RINO Hunting, Coats Update

[HICKMAN]

Nope, that's not correct. Beth White actually explained it on TV that morning.

They should have been challenged and made to sign the affidavit.

We need voter registration cards listing the party of choice for primaries.

 

[boozoo]

Secret ballot means secret ballot. I don't want my hands tied like that, either.

 

[rhino]

This demonstrates by Evan Bayh's political strategery was brilliant. He timed his announcement to ensure that a Democrat primary would not happen and the candidate would be picked by the party elite. That freed all the democrats and their sympathizers to vote in the Repulican primary and pick they candidate they wanted.

It's unethical and immoral, but it's brilliant maneuvering and so far it worked like a charm. Wait, that pretty much describes everything they do.

This is yet another weakness of a system that has evolved into a two-party concentration of power.

Coats is essentially "Lugar Lite." We're going to get the same lack of representation we've had in the senate most of my life, so nothing will change. Coats and Ellsworth are likely to vote the same on most issues. The only difference is that Coats pretends to be a "conservative" and expects people to believe the lie.

Lugar, of course, knows for a fact that a majority of Indiana voters believe his lies.

 

[Bill of Rights]

.........

You have a point. This is my first time working in a primary, though. I am not fully clear on what I can and can't do as a poll worker. It was my impression, though, that Democrats and Republicans can legally vote in the other party's primary in Indiana. Also, I am under the impression that Indiana does not have a closed primary system. Am I correct so far?


I believe you're correct - a person can vote in whichever party's primary election they want to in Indiana -at least that's always been my understanding & I know it happens. The local tv station was also saying before the primary that it was legal to do so.

Bobby,
I can understand that you should have had more training than you had. Whoever recruited you to do the job you did should have made sure you understood the job they expected you to do. By the same token, if you knew that there were things about the job you were hired to perform that you didn't understand, it was your job to get those things explained to you.

No, Indiana does not have a closed primary system, but if you have reason to suspect that someone is crossing party lines, you have a duty (especially as a poll worker) to challenge that voter's request for a ballot. If they sign the affadavit, they have to be allowed to vote. Some will be deterred by being made to sign their name to something like that. Others will have neither scruples nor reservations about perjuring themselves since there is no way of proving it.

By way of illustrating, there was a thread just before the election on here about Hostettler vs. Stutzman vs. Coats vs. Behney, etc., etc. I posted in that thread asking what about Ellsworth was so bad, and I was promptly corrected. That thread was about internal Republican politics and I brought up the Democratic candidate. I split the thread and got the answers I sought.

The primaries are exactly the same, in that the GOP primary is about the internal party politics for that party. It's their method of choosing who will represent their party, and as such, is not the place for Democrats to cast their votes and make their opinions heard, any more than it is the place of Republicans to vote in the Democratic primary. (and Rush Limbaugh was wrong in recommending Republicans do so in the 2008 primaries.) It would be the same as if Afghani citizens were to come to the US specifically to vote for our legislative and executive offices for the purpose of benefiting Afghanistan.

If you do apply to work the polls again, possibly in November, my advice to you is to check and find out exactly what your duties and responsibilities are in that role.

Blessings,
Bill

 

[WabashMX5]

Saw the article this morning, Kirk. I didn't even know Turn-Coats was going to be here. Thanks for holding his feet to the fire — bravo!

 

[CarmelHP]

Thank you Mr. Freeman.

It may make people feel better to believe that this was the work of Democrats crossing party lines but it's bollocks. There were too many votes cast for that level of coordination and the Dems didn't even have the benefit of a national or state radio show to push the idea. The Limbaugh Operation Chaos was a failure, Obama was nominated. You may as well blame unicorns and fairies for Coats' win as this fantasy.

 

[IUGradStudent]

Repped. Way to go, man. I love your Question #2 at the end.

 

[ddenny5]

We need to have run-off elections in Indiana when a canidate does not receive the majority of the votes in a primary.

 

[Kirk Freeman]

We need to have run-off elections in Indiana when a canidate does not receive the majority of the votes in a primary.

Ballotage has been on my list of electoral reforms for a very long time!

 

[boozoo]

So what does it take to try make it happen?

 

[MuncieKat]

The problem as I see it:

The taxpayers and public support what should be a private, internal political party process of selecting democrat and republican candidates.
But, both dems and repubs like it this way, because it all but eliminates any 3rd party viable threats to their 2-party power relationship. It's a big game.

My voting on primary day: "School board ballot only, please"