[geeks] Glad I don't live in Texas!

[Eric Dittman]

> Open primaries violate the First Amendment right to free association, forcing
> political parties to associate with people that don't share their beliefs.

The laws against open primaries are intended to prevent non-
party members from tainting the primaries to the benefit of
their own party.  The idea being that if you want to better
the chances of your own party you sabotage the primary of the
other party so the weaker candidate wins the primary.  That
way your own party wins.  For examples, if you were a Republican
you could get a drunken murderer to win the Democratic primary
in Massachussets so the Republican candidate would get elected
to the Senate, cause only an idiot would vote for the drunken
murderer...  Oh, wait, no, that doesn't work, the voters do
keep electing Kennedy.  Let's select another example.  You
could get a KKK member to win the primary so the other party's
candidate will win the race for the Senate... Oh, wait, that
doesn't work, either, as Byrd keeps getting elected.  Will
Florida have enough sense not to let Reno win the Democratic
primary (research some of the travesties of justice in
criminal cases she perpetrated as AG of Florida).

The best option is to abolish the party system.  Get rid of
people voting for the party and not the candidate.  Make the
candidates stand on their own merits, stating their own views.

Another good idea would be to require the politicians to follow
the will of the people they represent rather than their party.
-- 
Eric Dittman
dittman at dittman.net
Check out the DEC Enthusiasts Club at http://www.dittman.net/