I agree with Bernie on a lot of things (get the pitchforks). Yes, we should get out of the Middle East and other regions where we do more harm than good. Yes, we should rein in Wall Street. Yes, we should not get in trade deals that are transparently written so that corporations can subvert local laws. Yes, we need strong unions. And yes, we need infrastructure improvement across all of America. Even the part whose people will consider infrastructure as part of some conspiracy to herd Christians into gas chambers or whatever the big conspiracy will be on InfoWars.
What I don’t agree with is the idea of open primaries. Open primaries, for those who don’t know, is a system where you can select the candidate who will be on the party’s ballot in the general election whether or not you’re a member of that party (with the caveat that you can’t vote in the other party).
The reasons why I’m against this are twofold:
1. Security
David Clarke, pictured above, says things Nazis say. From everything he’s ever said, it’s clear that he won’t be happy until criticizing police in any way shape or form is punishable by summary execution. Here’s the dirty secret: He’s a Dem. How did somebody like that get on the Dem ballot in a heavily Dem county? The open primary. GOPers hopped in and forced the Nazi on the ballot against the wishes of actual fucking Democrats.
Open primaries are a security risk. There is no reason to give the Nazis an extra avenue for dirty tricks. If I have to choose between risking a Nazi getting under the Dem banner or missing out on some “enthusiasm” from independent voters who will more likely than not, stay home if their preferred candidate doesn’t get on the ballot as an act of “protest,” I’ll take keeping the Nazis off the ballot.
2. Fairness
Let’s say you look for a roommate. Two guys show up but one guy says you hurt his feelings somehow. You may not have and he’s just being a hypersensitive little twit. Either way, he leaves and the other guy stays. But the guy who left the house decides to tie up the phone lines and tell you two what your house rules should be.
To me, that is what the “I want to vote in the Dem primary without actually registering as a Democrat” people sound like.
How hard is it to register as a member of the Democratic Party, really? You go to your election office, and on the form where it says “Which party are you a member of?” And you put a checkmark under the Democrat box. If voting in the Democratic Party’s primary is that darn important to you, you’ll do it.
And if a person doesn’t want to perform the simple act of putting a checkmark on a piece of paper, either because he’s too lazy to research the issues, or because he wants to maintain his smug “I’m above party politics” hipster bullshit routine, then he shouldn’t his opinion shouldn’t matter in comparison to the people who have.
You don’t like the people being nominated? Join the party. Stop expecting us to send you a gift basket when you won’t even show up.
